DOT pushes for nationalintelligent transport system
By Amy Zuckerman -- Purchasing, 5/6/1999
The Department of Transportation is pushing hard to create a nationwide inter-operable Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) with the primary aim of clearing truck traffic through toll plazas and improving highway safety.ITS is the catch-all phrase for an array of operations--from toll collection to weigh-in-motion for commercial vehicles--that are made possible with the combined use of radio frequency technology and computers. Transponders are placed in vehicles and readers are located in toll plazas, for example, allowing drivers to wave "tags" or cards as they pass through rather than stopping to make a payment.
At this juncture, there are a number of ITS-based toll operations throughout the country, each utilizing different equipment. A trucker traveling from the Northeast to Florida and from Florida to California and then Oregon would have to carry as many as four transponders to participate in electronic toll collection.
Given these circumstances, it's not surprising that the trucking industry and national toll authorities have generally supported the effort to create a national ITS system. It's in the best interests of trucking companies, especially long-haul truckers, to operate with only one transponder for cross-country routes. Toll authorities see revenue in such a system, as well as a means of pleasing customers.
Since winter, however, a number of issues have arisen concerning equipment design and radio frequencies, not to mention the massive number of business and political issues that present roadblocks to development of a nationwide ITS system. Equipment manufacturers, which have been creating and selling a variety of transponders to meet the needs of evolving ITS systems in various parts of the country, are not uniformly supportive of the standardization effort. Obviously, there could be market winners and losers with a switch to one technology backing a nationwide inter-operable ITS system.
Roadblocks to overcome
Here are some of the main issues to follow in the months or years to come as the federal government and other interested parties work through the process of altering how commercial vehicles meet their supply chain schedules:
* Technology standards. As part of its overall standardization effort, DOT is supporting creation of 80 standards that will dictate the technology design to allow development of an inter-operable ITS system. Considered crucial to this effort is resolution of a standard for Dedicated Short Range Communication (dsrc), the technology that allows transponders to communicate with roadside or toll-plaza readers for functions such as toll collections.
This winter, DOT announced plans to promote a "sandwich protocol" standard after a team of manufacturers failed to develop a standard that was agreeable to all. Mike Onder, who is coordinator of intelligent transportation systems for the Federal Highway Administration, says the "dsrc standard device will be a requisite for using federal trust funds." He notes that a notice of proposed rule making, inviting comment from all interested parties, is expected to be published by mid- to late summer 1999. "We would be looking to 2001 for implementation of the rule," Onder says.
Onder says DOT is aiming for implementation by 2001, but the agency currently has an agreement with the states requiring them to use equipment compatible with an earlier standard in order to receive ITS funds. "We will continue that agreement with the states as they implement cvisn and use ITS funds. The new rule is for the use of federal trust fund money beyond ITS funds," Onder adds.
According to Onder, cvisn is the architecture that has been developed to consolidate commercial-vehicle compliance procedures with a single lead state agency. "It includes three components of roadside safety, electronic credentials, and electronic clearance on the highway."
* Radio frequency bands. The current debate over whether the federal government should adopt a special 5.9-GHz band for intelligent transport systems (ITS) may seem pretty ho-hum, but the issue has major financial implications for the trucking and toll industries, as well as equipment manufacturers.
dsrc equipment is designed for the catch-all 915-MHz band, which encompasses just about everything from garage-door openers to "microwave heating applications, GSM cellular telephony, wireless monitoring and data acquisition applications, point-of-sale and order entry applications, and many more," according to Rick Weiland, a Chicago-based ITS consultant.
"Everyone and everybody is in this band," explains Paul Najarian, senior telecommunications engineer for ITS America. Najarian notes also that the 915 band is unlicensed and presents "power and data limitations. It can't do multiple applications on a single tag (card) such as parking management, toll collection, and in-vehicle signing. You're limited in terms of band width and power."
Moving to the higher 5.9G band--as it's commonly known--allows for more applications, and ITS experts like Najarian say the higher radio band puts the United States in sync with both Europe and Asia. Moreover, it allows for a single tag or card with multiple applications. (ITS America is a Washington, D.C.-based association dedicated to promoting ITS.)
Not everyone in the transport world supports the band switch, which could take place sometime this year. However, Najarian argues that the long-term benefits of a 5.9 band are tremendous for the trucking industry. Because it would allow two-way capabilities, the new equipment produced for this frequency would allow for more public-safety applications, and even be able to read information on the cargo load and the center of equilibrium for a tractor trailer.
According to Tom Derenge, Electronics Engineer for the FCC Office of Engineering and Technology, rule making for the band switch has already gone out. In terms of an FCC decision, he can't provide an exact timetable beyond saying a ruling is expected "some time this year." And he adds that allocation of the 5.9 band to ITS won't affect current operations on the 915 band.
* The toll picture. Toll authority executives from New York, New Jersey, and Florida recently pledged to support the goal of a national inter-operable system for toll collection at a meeting of ITS America's Electronic Commerce Blue Ribbon Panel, according to Stephen Keppler, Commercial Vehicle Program director for ITS America.
"We're looking at creating a national brand for (CVO) toll collection, so that regardless of the toll location, there would be the same look and feel from state to state," says Keppler, adding that he wants to "nip in the bud" any notion that the DOT is considering a nationwide electronic toll system to expand toll (roads). "The tolling agencies have their hands full with what they're doing now. It's true the technology would allow for expanding toll roads (by providing quick entry and egress from toll plazas), but the trucking customers don't want any more tolls."
Beyond getting toll-authority chiefs to agree on a plan of action, major players on the toll authority, financial, and manufacturing side of this situation agree that there are quite a few issues that need to be tackled before the trucking industry can use one tag nationwide. As noted, there are lingering technology issues surrounding the development of one transponder to serve a national electronic toll system. Keppler points out that financial issues include how toll authorities will be paid, questions of capital investments required to rebuild plazas to accommodate new equipment, operational and maintenance costs, and data management costs. --
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