Siemens Intelligent Traffic Systems has demonstrated its new Travel Sense application working in conjunction ESCoS Roadside Units (RSUs) at the 2018 IMSA (International Municipal Signal Association) show in Orlando, Florida, this week (July 28-31).
Siemens’s new Travel Sense application allows RSUs to collect anonymized data from passing vehicles, via wi-fi, Bluetooth or DSRC (dedicated short-range communications), and make it available on the cloud, eliminating the need for additional hardware.
Travel Sense is an easy-to-use cloud-based data analytics platform that Siemens says is a game-changer for agencies wanting to consolidate units offering different capabilities. The company is now making travel time and traffic congestion gathering capability available on its popular ESCoS RSUs, with data accessed via the new Traffic Sense application.
The additional capability now adds to Siemens’s current lineup of already-supported connected vehicle (CV) RSU applications, which includes: Signal Time-to-Change, Curve Speed Warning, Variable Speed Limit, Wrong Way Entry, Exit Ramp Deceleration Warning, Work Zone Warning, Transit Signal Priority, Emergency Vehicle Preemption, and Pedestrian Collision Warning.
The RSU has an integrated LTE modem for fast backhaul communication, and a wi-fi and Bluetooth interface already on board, allowing it to connect to the new Travel Sense app, which is powered by Acyclica Go.
The application gives agencies a pathway for investing in CV technology without sacrificing current data collection capabilities. In providing this new functionality, the Siemens RSU offers a solution for both wi-fi and Bluetooth-based travel time applications and allows for future-proof safety applications using DSRC.
The Siemens RSU is one of the first CV devices to successfully complete the US Department of Transportation’s (USDOT) most recent round of interoperability testing, with deployments at the agency’s three national CV Pilot Programs in Wyoming, Tampa Bay and New York City.
One of the most important results of the recent interoperability test was proof that OBUs (onboard units) and the RSU were able to communicate safely and securely using the USDOT-mandated Security Credential Management System (SCMS.) Siemens’s RSU is one of the few devices that is enrolled in SCMS and one of only a handful of roadside units that meet USDOT’s Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) specification version 4.1 for connected vehicle applications using DSRC.
Siemens has also worked with cities including Tampa (Florida), Las Vegas (Nevada), and Ann Arbor (Michigan) to design and deploy intelligent connected vehicle systems. The company is an active member of the USDOT-affiliated testbed for connected vehicle technologies, a group pursuing widespread deployment of wireless communication systems between vehicles and road infrastructure.
“Determining which technologies will be required long term, and which will need to be replaced by connected vehicle technology, is ongoing right now and already affecting today’s investment cycles,” explained Marcus Welz, president of Siemens ITS in the USA.
“Having an all-in-one solution will save our customers costs from purchasing and installing additional equipment, while making the infrastructure ready for the advent of self-driving vehicles. But knowing that our technology is supporting a plethora of applications and is in-sync with all of today’s government efforts to deploy connected vehicles should put our users at ease that they are well-positioned to keep supporting connected vehicles well into the future with our RSUs.”
