Skip to main content

Drivers connected as never before

Australia’s New South Wales Centre for Road Safety is to embark on a trial that will allow trucks to transmit and receive warnings about road hazards. The Cooperative Intelligent Transport Initiative (CITI) project will trial Cooperative Intelligent Transport Systems (CITS) technology along a 42 kilometre major transport link in the Wollongong region. Historically, most crashes along this route involve heavy vehicles, so the first phase of the five-year trial will include 30 heavy vehicles fitted with CI
May 2, 2014 Read time: 2 mins
Australia’s New South Wales Centre for Road Safety is to embark on a trial that will allow trucks to transmit and receive warnings about road hazards.

The Cooperative Intelligent Transport Initiative (CITI) project will trial Cooperative Intelligent Transport Systems (CITS) technology along a 42 kilometre major transport link in the Wollongong region. Historically, most crashes along this route involve heavy vehicles, so the first phase of the five-year trial will include 30 heavy vehicles fitted with CITS devices. The trial is expected to commence in mid 2014.

Cooperative Intelligent Transport Systems (CITS) have the potential to improve road safety by allowing vehicles to communicate with each other, as well as roadside infrastructure, including traffic signals and railway level crossings.

Drivers using CITS technology can be advised of: imminent collisions with nearby CITS-equipped vehicles; current speed limits; potential red-light violations (based on vehicle speed and traffic signal phasing); local road conditions, such as roadwork, fog, and water over the road; and approaching emergency vehicles.

Using a dedicated 5.9 GHz frequency, data such as vehicle position, direction and speed is transmitted between CITS-equipped vehicles and roadside infrastructure. Messages and alerts can be rapidly communicated to drivers connected by the system. This technology allows vehicles to see each other as never before, such as around a corner or over the crest of a hill, as well as sending warnings to drivers of a potential crash.

CITS technology will be also be used in a trial of smart rest areas along the Newell Highway between Narrabri and Gilgandra to help improve road safety for heavy vehicle drivers. The technology to allow heavy vehicle drivers to receive instant information about: the location of heavy vehicle rest areas; the distance and estimated travel time to rest areas; and vacancy details of the rest areas.

Related Content

  • October 26, 2017
    Applied Information’s app gets Marietta connected
    Must the benefits of connected vehicle technology wait for a generation of new or retrofitted vehicles? The US city of Marietta is about to find out. Can connected vehicle functionality be delivered via a smartphone? Well, in Marietta, Georgia, they are about to answer that question. The city is testing a smartphone app which warns motorists of nearby cyclists and pedestrians, approaching first responders, wrong-way driving, entering active school zones and much more.
  • May 10, 2013
    ITS Australia welcomes heavy vehicle smart technology trials
    New funding of US$1.7 million recently announced by the Federal and New South Wales Governments for trials of Cooperative Intelligent Transport Systems (C-ITS) technologies has been welcomed by Intelligent Transport Systems Australia. The Heavy Vehicle Safety and Productivity Program funds provide for pioneering projects involving heavy vehicle to infrastructure communication technologies to make roads safer.
  • August 23, 2024
    AVs light up New South Wales V2I trial
    Two self-driving vehicles are linking with Scats technology in Sydney collaboration
  • September 26, 2014
    Keeping a weather eye on road conditions
    Drive C2X has shown that advanced warning of poor road conditions could cut fatalities, as David Crawford explains. Connected vehicle (CV)-based warning technologies could mean 6% fewer deaths and 5% fewer injuries in road traffic accidents in Europe, according to the final results of the European Commission (EC) co-funded DRIVE C2X project. According to the European Centre for Information and Communication Technologies (EICT) which provided management support, these “prove that CV systems work and can hav