Doug Moeller - Autonet Mobile CTO

Is it time to start taking DSRC seriously?

DSRC ( Dedicated Short Range Communications ) has been a buzz topic in the automotive world for some number of years now. The idea is that cars will all have this radio technology in them and then they can communicate with each other and with roadside infrastructure. Some sample applications for this technology include:

• Emergency Warning system - e.g. A notice that the road is flooded ahead, or tornado alert
• Adaptive cruise control - e.g. Car slows down when it sees that you're within x ft. of another car
• Collision warning system - e.g. Your car sends you an alert when you get too close to another car, or if their is a stalled car ahead.
• Smart Intersections - e.g. Your car sends you an alert that a traffic signal is ahead. It could even tell you if you're going to make the light or not.
• Smart Traffic signals - e.g. The traffic signals know how many cars are approaching and can optimize it's signals to avoid cars idling at the lights.
• Approaching emergency vehicle warning
• Vehicle clearance information for upcoming bridges
• Real time traffic data
• In Vehicle Signing - e.g. All roadside signs could also be displayed on a display in the vehicle
• Electronic Toll collection and parking

These things all sound great, but many of them aren't really useful till every vehicle has them and we've spent some serious bucks on upgrading the infrastructure on our streets and highways. In today's economy this just doesn't seem practical, and the reality is that many of these new services that DSRC brings aren't really necessities, but fail safes to attentive driving.

DSRC will make our lives better by reducing traffic congestion, reducing accidents, and improving the environment, but without an economic incentive to implement it, it seems unlikely to gain much traction. The one application that I think may help kick start this is Toll Tags and Parking. All across this country we've got bridges, tunnels, roadways and parking lots that use Toll Tags (e.g. EZ-Pass, FasTrak, TollTag, etc.) for automation of the collection of payments for use of these services. These Toll Tag systems are all proprietary and non-interoperable with each other though, so consumers end up having to purchase multiple tags and setting up multiple billing relationships. Why not just standardize on DSRC for this nationwide? It'll mean lower costs and less hassle for consumers, and it starts to get the infrastructure updated so we'll be able to take advantage of the other benefits of DSRC.

Posted at 05:51PM Apr 24, 2010 by dmoeller in Doug Moeller  |