ATSSA Signal Sept/Oct 2018

American Traffic Safety Services Association 16 Innovation & New Programs ATSSA explores importance of infrastructure for autonomous vehicles at ITS America Session highlights pavement markings, work zones, signage, and uses for vehicle fleet data ATSSA recently held a session at ITS America entitled “Preparing Infrastruc- ture for Automation Levels 1–3,” which examined areas within roadway infra- structure that will be affected with the emergence of Connected and Automat- ed Vehicles (CAVs). Speakers Paul Carlson, Ross Sheckler, Andrew Dubner, William Sowell, and Terry Bills discussed road markings, work zones, signage, signals, and ways to identify pedestri- an hot spots using crowd-sourced ve- hicle fleet data. While it is speculated that we are de- cades away from developing a fully au- tonomous vehicle fleet, automakers and various other companies are work- ing feverishly to produce CAVs that can operate past a Level of Automation (LOA) of three, which the National High- way Traffic Safety Association (NHTSA) defines as “conditional automation” and requires constant alertness of the driver. Considering that CAVs rely on sensors that read and interact with roadway safety devices, there will be an increased need for the roadway safety industry to advance and adapt at the same ca- dence as the automotive side on the path to a fully automated fleet, accord- ing to ATSSA Director of New Programs Brian Watson, who helped organize the session. “It is imperative to explore the ways road- way safety devices and infrastructure will need to change to support connect- ed and automated vehicles,” Watson said. “As these vehicles continue to en- ter America’s roadway system, installers and manufacturers of roadway safety devices and roadside infrastructure need to be aware of the needs of these vehicles.” Carlson of Road Infrastructure Inc. said a key focus area in the relationship be- tween CAVs and roadway devices and infrastructure is pavement markings and machine vision—the technology andmethods a machine uses to operate using image-based data. Another area of focus relating to infra- structure, safety and CAVs is work zones. Sheckler of iCone spoke about how the next round of real-time/real-presence work zone-related information systems is emerging to address the needs of ve- hicle navigation for multiple automation levels. Sheckler said various work zone elements would be addressed including flagger activity, lane closures, worker presence, mobile operations, and work vehicle hazards. Signage and signals will play important roles in communicating with CAVs, ac- cording to Dubner of 3M and Sowell of Eberle Design Inc. (EDI). Dubner said a recent I-75 project, which involved coordination between theMich- igan Department of Transportation and 3M, showcased some intriguing signage prototypes for vehicle machine vision systems. Dubner said 3M has been test- ing technology using special sign sheet- ing to assist with information sharing between future CAVs and signs. Additionally, pedestrians are an import- ant roadway user group that need to be More than 2,500 registered attendees and more than 135 exhibitors made their way to the Cobo Center in Detroit, Michigan, from June 4–7, making 2018 the most popular annual meeting in the event’s history.