Skip to main content

Transit bus collision avoidance pilot launched in Washington State

Insurance group Munich Re, in collaboration with the Washington State Transit Insurance Pool (WSTIP), has launched a pilot program top equip transit buses with Mobileye Shield+ collision avoidance technology, installed by Rosco Vision Systems. For the pilot, 38 WSTIP transit buses have been equipped with the technology which claims to enable drivers to avoid and mitigate imminent collisions, protecting the most vulnerable and difficult to observe road users, cyclists, pedestrians and motorcyclists. Je
March 18, 2016 Read time: 2 mins
Insurance group Munich Re, in collaboration with the Washington State Transit Insurance Pool (WSTIP), has launched a pilot program top equip transit buses with 4279 Mobileye Shield+ collision avoidance technology, installed by Rosco Vision Systems.

For the pilot, 38 WSTIP transit buses have been equipped with the technology which claims to enable drivers to avoid and mitigate imminent collisions, protecting the most vulnerable and difficult to observe road users, cyclists, pedestrians and motorcyclists.

Jerry Spears, deputy director of WSTIP, notes approximately 90 per cent of its large collision-related transit losses are forward-motion collisions with pedestrians, cyclists or motorcyclists. “The purpose of this safety pilot is to utilize innovative technology to prevent these collisions from occurring in the first place, thereby avoiding the devastating consequences these incidents can have on the injured parties and on the drivers,” Spears said

Supported by an IDEA grant from the Transportation Research Board at the National Academies of Science, transportation experts at the University of Washington STAR Labs will analyse both quantitative and qualitative pilot data collected from multiple sources including video, telematics and transit operator surveys.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Google AV in collision with public transit bus
    March 1, 2016
    According to a report made by Google to the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), one of its autonomous vehicles (AV) has been in collision with a municipal bus in California. The crash happened on Valentine’s Day, when the Lexus RX-450H was travelling in autonomous mode in the right-hand lane approaching an intersection. It moved to the far right lane to make a right turn, but stopped when it detected sand bags sitting around a storm drain and blocking its path.
  • MTA announces finalists for Transit Tech Lab in New York
    February 27, 2019
    The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) and non-profit organisation Partnership for New York City have announced six finalists for the inaugural Transit Tech Lab programme. The eight-week project will allow the technology companies to introduce products to New York’s transportation agencies which are expected to improve subway and bus services. Participants will employ predictive maintenance to help reduce cost and subway delays, deploy a platform for transit network planning, utilise comp
  • euroFOT study demonstrates benefits of driver assistance systems
    June 26, 2012
    Today, the euroFOT consortium published the findings of a four-year study focused on the impact of driver assistance systems in the Europe. The €22 million (US$27.5 million) European Field Operational Test (euroFOT) project which began in June 2008 and involved 28 companies and organisations, was led by Aria Etemad from Ford’s European Research Centre in Aachen, Germany. The study looked at existing technologies and their potential to both enhance safety and reduce environmental impact. euroFOT also reveale
  • Making cars safer for vulnerable road users
    June 2, 2016
    Richard Cuerden considers measures to improve the safety of vulnerable road users. The competitive nature of the car market has seen an increase in protection for those travelling inside the vehicle and this is reflected in the casualty statistics -but the same does not apply to those outside the vehicle. And with current societal trends such as ageing populations, an increasing number of pedestrians and cyclists encouraged by environmental policies, this is an area that authorities such as the European Uni