{"id":5373,"date":"2023-05-23T09:04:40","date_gmt":"2023-05-23T09:04:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.commsignia.com\/?p=5373"},"modified":"2023-05-23T14:53:45","modified_gmt":"2023-05-23T14:53:45","slug":"itsa-was-leading-the-mindset-shift-to-invest-in-digital-infrastructure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.commsignia.com\/blog\/itsa-was-leading-the-mindset-shift-to-invest-in-digital-infrastructure\/","title":{"rendered":"Laura Chace: ITSA is leading the mindset shift to invest in digital infrastructure"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
What are the most important goals of ITS America, and where does vehicle-to-everything or V2X fit in?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n ITS America is the only national association that focuses on the integration of technology into our transportation system to support a safer, greener and smarter future for all. Our role is to be the leading national voice on transportation technologies to integrate them into our everyday life. As we have seen with mobile phones, real-time information to enable transportation is everywhere and the public is adaptable to accepting these innovations. Vehicles are increasingly equipped with more and more technology and connectivity. We are guiding and leading this transition to ensure that technology is being integrated in a way that supports communities and our safety goals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That\u2019s where V2X comes in, very prominently. It is perhaps the number one tool we have to achieve our Vision Zero safety goals. V2X can also advance our climate goals, sustainable mobility, equity and access in our systems. We believe that technologies like V2X – while always putting safety first – help advance all of those goals. Even something as simple as the original Transit Signal Priority<\/a> has a real equity component to make transportation more accessible and work better for people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n ITS America has a long history\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2026going back some 30 years when we were founded. Originally, we were called IVHS, Intelligent Vehicle Highway Systems, because ITS technology was focused on highways and vehicles. Now ITS America as an organization and the solutions out there cover every mode of transportation. More and more technological tools are being developed that can help solve the problems and challenges we face in transportation. Fatalities are increasing \u2013 up to 43,000 per year, which doesn\u2019t include all of the nonfatal crashes that result in serious injury. We know that 29 percent of greenhouse gas emissions come from the transportation sector, and ITS technologies help manage demand and optimize the system. Electrification alone is not going to be enough to offset all the energy used in transportation and resulting emissions. A lot of ITS technologies are now being used in the transit space and others, for on-demand mobility and seamless payments, to make transit more reliable, accessible, and attractive to customers. These are the things I think about when I talk about the digital transformation of transportation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What was the biggest change in technologies that moved forward these efforts?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n I think it is the real-time data coming from sensors, connected vehicles, mobile phones and other inputs. Transportation agencies don\u2019t have to rely on a few years old historical crash reports to figure out where the most dangerous intersections are, they can actually see them using real-time data and determine fixes. Some of those fixes are going to be things like deploying V2X or other technologies, and some of those fixes are going to be a physical improvement in a particular area. I think that the consumer expectation of having reliable and real-time information in the palm of their hands, whether it\u2019s a map application or transit information, has really pushed a change forward in the industry. <\/p>\n\n\n\n On the V2X front, with the FCC approval of the joint waiver, you can see that all the players in the industry are aligned around C-V2X and the remaining 30MHz of dedicated spectrum. We have a use or lose situation. We’re seeing a maturity in the alignment in the industry, and also a maturity of the technology, where everyone has gone through the testing and piloting phase and is ready for actual deployments, and they need to happen, today<\/em>.<\/strong> At the same time, a massive increase in road fatalities in the country has made it very clear: doing the same thing over and over is a recipe for continued tragedy. There are a host of reasons to work together to scale up V2X deployments to reduce fatalities and crashes for all road users.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n