A smart city platform developed by Siemens is being trialed in the city of Las Vegas in an effort to improve road safety. The innovative technology is designed to enable vehicles and pedestrians to communicate with the traffic infrastructure in the city.
The platform is being showcased at CES 2018 this week which is being held in Las Vegas, and it has been announced that the turnkey vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) and vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) solution will be tested along routes including Casino Centre Boulevard between Bonneville and Clark Avenues.
The primary objective of this cutting-edge innovation is to create a connected and safer road environment in downtown Las Vegas, which is an accident blackspot. City authorities reiterated their commitment to the project by vowing to utilize the latest digital tools to make an impact on their pedestrian and public roadway safety aims. The six-month pilot program represents the start of connected vehicle technology infrastructure going forward.
CEO of Siemens Intelligent Traffic Systems, Marcus Welz expressed his belief that the platform would fundamentally reshape road safety in Las Vegas. He said, “By showcasing this smart city technology, Las Vegas is building a truly connected, multimodal system that provides a safer and more efficient road network for its residents and visitors. The initial V2I technologies provide a foundation for enhanced safety in a heavily frequented area of Las Vegas while its usage and its smart application will continue to expand throughout the city. The impact of this future-prove technology will be significant for road users.”
Siemens V2I technology includes roadside and vehicle infrastructure, innovative software applications and a digital smart city platform that enables vehicles and pedestrians to communicate with traffic infrastructure like intersections, corridors and traffic signals in real-time to enhance situational awareness, improve safety and prevent injuries.
The initial connected vehicle pilot will focus on two key initial priorities:
- Pedestrian safety: a crosswalk will be equipped with roadside unit to warn oncoming drivers when a pedestrian is present in the crosswalk. By using the installed on board units, which connect with the roadside units, drivers will receive warnings in their vehicles. This information could also be transmitted to the pedestrians to detect a potential vehicle/pedestrian collision near the crosswalk and potentially prevent an incident.
- Corridor notifications: vehicles equipped with the connected vehicle technology will receive information and warnings from connected street infrastructure such as when vehicles are traveling in the wrong direction, in an exclusive bus-only travel lane and for certain times of the day, when lane usage has been restricted. Casino Centre Boulevard is a common entry point for wrong-way drivers onto the Bonneville and Clark one-way streets and unauthorized entry onto an exclusive transit lane. The Las Vegas connected vehicle pilot aims to reduce the risk of collisions by detecting and warning wrong-way drivers before they enter a one-way street or closed lane.