This paper describes a medium access control (MAC) protocol to enable multi-channel operation for dedicated short range communication (DSRC). In particular, we focus on the challenge of supporting potentially high-bandwidth commercial or info-tainment communications between vehicle and roadside in hotspots over several service channels, while concurrently enabling time-critical vehicle-vehicle communication for safety in a separate channel. In our architecture, within hotspots, communication is aided by one of the access points in the hotspot. This access point is designated the...