ITFVHA Responds to US News & World Report Story on Traffic
IVsource.net
4 June 2001

The International Task Force on Vehicle Highway Automation responds to the recent US News & World Report cover story on the problems of "Traffic" ... which basically missed the intelligent vehicle angle.

As chair of the International Task Force on Vehicle Highway Automation, Richard Bishop sends a letter to the editors of US News & World Report, to "complete" their rather inadequate story on "American Gridlock."

The text of the letter follows:

To the Editors, US News & World Report:

As one who has spent many years applying technology to improve our highway transportation system, I read your article on traffic problems (American Gridlock, 5-28-01) with great interest.  I was disappointed, however, that your writers limited their examination of possible solutions to a relatively narrow set of options.  Any comprehensive look at ways to solve our mobility problem must include the potential of increasingly intelligent vehicles to assist drivers in maneuvering more smoothly in heavy traffic, increasing both traffic flow rates and stability.  As these systems evolve, lanes of fully automated vehicles, working cooperatively using vehicle-vehicle communications, are expected to offer flow rates of at least twice the current capacity.

Once only a technological fantasy, automated vehicle-highway systems have been demonstrated in the U.S. (Demo '97, National Automated Highway System Consortium) and active development programs are underway by government agencies and automakers in Asia and Europe.  In the U.S., the state of California is supporting an ambitious research program, while unfortunately  U.S. government transportation research is focused only on very short-term improvements at this time.

Fully automated bus systems are going into service in Japan this year, and "driving assist" systems for heavy trucks and cars can be expected to roll out at a steady pace during this decade, culminating in the availability of automated highway vehicles by approximately 2010.  Even now, "adaptive cruise control," using radar and laser technology, is available for some cars, which automatically reduces speed when encountering a slower vehicle ahead.

The situation on our roads is far from hopeless -- the "next generation" of highway travel is in the works, offering unprecedented levels of safety, ease of travel, and mobility.   Technical experts agree that automated highway travel is achievable, and the timing of its availability will track directly with levels of private and public R&D investments.

Sincerely,

Richard Bishop
Chair, International Task Force on Vehicle-Highway Automation

___________________________________________________

Participants in the Task Force:

• Advanced Cruise Assist Highway System Research Association (Japan)

• Ministry of  Land, Infrastructure, and Transportation (Japan)

• Ministry of Trade and Industry (Japan)

• Korea Highway Corporation

• Korea University

• Intelligent Transportation Society of Australia

• University of California

• California Department of Transportation

• U.S. Department of Transportation

• U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology

• Intelligent Transportation Society of America

• Department of Transport and Regions (U.K.)

• Dutch Ministry of Transportation

• Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research

• TUV Rhineland (German research institute)

• Laboratory for the Interactions between Driver, Vehicle, and Infrastructure (LIVIC) (French national research institute)

• National Institute for Research in Information and Automation (INRIA) (France)

• European Commission

• DaimlerChrysler (Stuttgart)

• Central Researche Fiat (Turin)

• Navigation Technologies

[Top]