Traffic technology for a cooperative commute?

From: ICT Results (http://cordis.europa.eu/ictresults)

Could chatty cars spearhead a peaceful revolution and traffic communications act as force to unite commuters instead of a curse to enrage them? Thanks to new ‘intelligent traffic’ technology developed by European researchers, we could be in for a more cooperative commute.

It’s good to talk, and new ‘intelligent traffic’ technology developed by European researchers should make traffic a whole lot chattier. It is all part of the much larger vision to create cooperative vehicle infrastructure systems that communicate with all the elements making up the road system: vehicles communicating with each other and with road signs and central services, and drivers who don’t know each other talking about their route.

Moreover, they do so cooperatively and proactively. Cars and infrastructure constantly monitor their surroundings and will warn nearby or approaching vehicles of a patch of black ice, a vulnerable road-user, or an emergency braking manoeuvre, all with the aim of making roads safer, more efficient and easier to use.

It is like an ‘automobile internet’ and, like the internet, it requires dozens of enabling technologies, from telecoms hardware to data transport software, protocols and application programs.

“Where possible, of course,” explains Paul Kompfner, Head of Sector Cooperative Mobility at ERTICO – ITS Europe, and coordinator of the CVIS project, “we have built upon existing technology and standards.” Report