SBIR Phase II: A Cloud Managed Solution for Public Transit Signal Priority and Emergency Vehicle Preemption of Traffic Lights

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The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project is to lay a foundation for vehicle to infrastructure communication focused on applications that add direct value to mobility. Many solutions are focused on getting information to the vehicle, while it is often the infrastructure that requires vehicle information to operate more efficiently. Currently, traffic signals enforce the right-of-way of everyone regardless of in-vehicle technology. This is why optimizing their effects on the road network can provide tremendous benefit. There are significant benefits to transit as well, like buses and light rail that, when given priority at intersections, improves on-time performance which is a major factor in ridership rates.The proposed project advances the work of the joint standardization of the National Transportation Communications for Intelligent Transportation Systems Protocol (NTCIP) to achieve interoperability between various traffic signal controller vendors to enable shared control and organization between different operating agencies. It is not unusual to have sections of roadway be managed by local, county, and state within the same small area. These overlapping jurisdictions produce fractures within the road network resulting in the asynchronous timing of traffic signals. The aim is to consolidate the management into a signal network capable of coordinating large areas of traffic signals to increase mobility's overall efficiency. With a cloud solution that is capable of speaking to each networked intersection, vehicle telemetry data and route information can be used to proactively optimize signal timing. Working with prioritized vehicles such as buses, fire trucks, and ambulances, pilot studies will be conducted to perform priority and preemption along routes that cross jurisdictions. Each pilot case will be analysed based on key performance indicators set forth by the agencies.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.