PATH

Until recently, truck drivers and their dispatchers have relied on public telephones and voice radio systems to communicate with each other. Today, however, vendors are beginning to offer new technologies for determining the positions of trucks and communications to and from trucks. Eighteen systems and their implications for the industry and intelligent vehicle highway systems (IVHS) activities are reviewed in this paper. Some of the newer communications and/or positioning systems are in the proposal stage. Others are available with not yet fully developed capability or only in limited...

Although the performance advantages of cooperative ITS systems are generally appreciated, the deployment challenges that they pose represent a significant impediment. This report begins with a summary of the types of deployment challenges faced by cooperative information systems and cooperative vehicle-highway automation systems (CVHAS), both of which require coordination of deployment of vehicle and infrastructure-based elements. The institutional challenges are discussed first, followed by the technological challenges. In each case, current progress in overcoming these challenges is...

This report presents the hierarchical structure for the control design of an Automated Highway System (AHS). This control hierarchy has four layers: network, link, coordination, and regulation. It is used to model different AHS proposals. Control layers and the internal structure of each layer and the interfaces between then are described. Three basic maneuvers are described: join, split, and change lane. The SmartPath simulation tools are described to enable simulating AHS scenarios. The advantages of SmartPath include providing a graphical interface, providing microsimulation, and also...

This report defines the transit service needs that can be met by use of lane assistance systems and the requirements that these systems must meet in order to be useful and safe. The work is based on review of the existing literature and research on the subject of lane assistance, combined with case studies of several transit properties that could potentially benefit from use of lane assist systems. The project team has conducted workshops involving participation by a broad mix of people representing the transit properties in order to learn about the needs that they perceive, as well as...