SOADS-CDS

The United States Department of Transportation’s (USDOT) Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has awarded a team, led by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI) and includes a consortium of Automotive OEMs under the Crash Avoidance Metrics Partners LLC (CAMP), Transurban North America, and the Global Center for Automotive Performance Simulation, a grant that will address cooperative automation and safe interactions between public safety officials/first responders and automated driving systems (ADS). This project builds upon contributions from CAMP's Automation and Public Safety Common Solutions (APSCS) Consortium for tasks related to public safety officials/first responders’ interactions. It also continues the development of the Cooperative Automated Driving Systems Improved Freeway Mobility (CADS-IFM) practical concepts and operational best practices. Research previously conducted by CAMP identified interactions and methods used by public safety officials/first responders that must now be accounted for by ADS. This project will define critical scenarios that must be addressed before broad ADS deployment and will demonstrate technical solutions that could be applied. As research efforts move forward, original equipment manufacturers remain a key stakeholder to ensure that proper interaction with public safety officials/first responders are enabled by ADS. In addition, understanding how operational domains, vehicle-to-vehicle communications, vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communications, and infrastructure-sourced operating parameter recommendations can be combined to ensure future roadways are valid and beneficial to safely implement the vehicle portion in a viable consumer product.