Skip to main content

ITS America & AASHTO: 5.9 GHz legal action

Two respected transportation bodies launch appeal against FCC's decision on 5.9 GHz band
By Adam Hill June 7, 2021 Read time: 2 mins
ITS America and AASHTO are concerned about safety of V2X tech following FCC ruling (© Jae Young Ju | Dreamstime.com)

ITS America and the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) have filed an appeal of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)'s November 2020 order regarding unlicenced devices in the 5.9 GHz spectrum band.

ITS America and AASHTO say they are taking legal action to ensure Vehicle to Everything (V2X) technologies "can continue to safely operate throughout the 5.9 GHz band". 

The lawsuit, filed in the DC Circuit Court, seeks to reverse the FCC’s reallocation of 60% of the 5.9 GHz band to unlicenced, non-transportation uses, and preserve the full 75 MHz for transportation communications. 

The FCC's decision has already been criticised by ITS America as 'reckless' as well as 'shortsighted and detrimental'.

“Safety has always been our top priority,” said Shailen Bhatt, president & CEO of ITS America. 

“We are taking this action because V2X technologies continue to be our best available tool to significantly reduce crashes and save lives on American roadways.” 

“Keeping people safe is the top priority for every state DoT,” said Jim Tymon, AASHTO executive director.

“We believe the FCC ruling has undermined state DOTs’ ability to utilise the 5.9GHz safety frequency as it was intended to be used.” 

You can see the 5.9 GHz Notice of Appeal and 5.9 GHz Petition for Review here.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Applied offers VRU safety at a Glance
    May 22, 2020
    New mid-block pedestrian crossing uses IoT technology
  • Cooperative road infrastructures - progress and the future
    February 1, 2012
    Robert Bertini, deputy administrator of the USDOT's Research and Innovative Technology Administration, discusses the research and deployment paths of cooperative road infrastructures. High-level analysis by the US's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) of the potential of Vehicle-to-Infrastructure/Infrastructure-to-Vehicle (V2I/I2V) and Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V) technologies indicates that V2V could in exclusivity address a large proportion of crashes involving unimpaired drivers. In fact,
  • American Center for Mobility appoints Microsoft data and cloud provider
    April 10, 2018
    The American Center for Mobility (ACM) has appointed Microsoft as its exclusive data and cloud provider to help develop connected and automated vehicles (C/AVs) as well as mobility technologies. The facility officially opened in Ypsilanti Township on the 4 April 2018. ACM is part of the PlanetM, a collaboration of private industry, government and institutions of higher learning that aims to change the way people and goods are transported across all modes of transportation. Both partners will design a
  • Iteris supports V2X data exchange in Florida 
    January 14, 2022
    Data exchange will enable FDoT to communicate critical travel information to the travelling public