A Connected Vehicle in Your Pocket Using Cell Phone Networks

Abstract: Connected Vehicle (CV) technology is a potential paradigm shift for transportation. It allows for vehicles to share information between each other, other road users, and infrastructure to make more informed and safer operational decisions.

However, the slow rate of adding on-board units to existing cars or manufacturing new ones with built-in capabilities means that the current market penetration is low. On the other hand, smartphones are ubiquitous in most places. In addition, adding roadside units to existing infrastructure is costly for departments of transportation, but an extensive mobile network already covers most of the country. Utilizing that existing system to send and receive transportation messages would greatly accelerate and expand connected capabilities on the roadway with lower time and money costs than traditional CV technology.

The Arizona Department of Transportation partnered with Verizon in a Maricopa Association of Governments Emerging Technology Pilot to test the feasibility of the idea. In-house and third party data were used to populate warning messages about road conditions that were then sent to user’s cell phones in geofenced areas. The use cases successfully sent alerts for back-of-queue, roadwork, and curve speed warnings.

This successful pilot won awards from the National Operations Center of Excellence (NOCoE) and is being used as the basis for additional projects including one by Caltrans and a FHWA SMART grant led by the Arizona Commerce Authority.