ITS (UK) launches A-F scale for connected vehicles

ITS (UK) has developed a ‘Scale of connections for co-operation of connected vehicles’ to help people understand how connected their vehicles are. It mirrors the existing scale for automated vehicles, the SAE international standard, which goes from Level 1 (driver assistance required) to Level 5 (fully autonomous). The ITS (UK) scale, developed by the group’s Connected and Automated Vehicles (C/AV) Forum and supported by the Department for Transport and Highways England, uses letters instead. “Currently a
April 12, 2019 Read time: 2 mins

ITS (UK) has developed a ‘Scale of connections for co-operation of connected vehicles’ to help people understand how connected their vehicles are.

It mirrors the existing scale for automated vehicles, the 567 SAE international standard, which goes from Level 1 (driver assistance required) to Level 5 (fully autonomous). The ITS (UK) scale, developed by the group’s Connected and Automated Vehicles (C/AV) Forum and supported by the 1837 Department for Transport and 8101 Highways England, uses letters instead.

“Currently all vehicles are at Level A, and with a smartphone they can get to C,” explains Andy Graham, chair of the C/AV Forum.

“Level D would take the services many of us work on today in research and demonstrations and make them more widely available and used, as the first step “connected roads ready” allied to existing communications and vehicles,” he continues.

The scale has been designed to focus on what is possible – rather than on details of the technology. This means that a service is only designated at a particular level when it is widely available – for instance, when an app is published – rather than when it has been tested as part of a research project.

All new vehicles today with connections to head units would be level D, “but the roads and communications are not yet at the level”, Graham points out. “This reflects HD TV rollout when HD TVs became available before HD programmes. Level E vehicles are not yet available, but maybe soon.”

ITS (UK) says the scale will be reviewed ‘periodically’, as Vehicle to Infrastructure (V2I) and Vehicle to Vehicle (V2V) plans develop.

Networking & Communication Systems

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Knowing when to slow down
    August 8, 2018
    Level 2 driver assistance vehicles have little problem reading fixed metal signs at the roadside - but it’s a different story with VMS in tunnels, finds Alan Dron. Following a series of hands-free driving tests in tunnels, an Australian road authority believes that car manufacturers have to up their game before vehicles have the required levels of competence to consistently perform ‘assisted driving’ tasks. The trials, in the state of Victoria late last year, tested the ability of several vehicles to stay
    Read More
  • AVs and poor weather – a bad mix
    May 11, 2020
    The US DoT has produced a report on how adverse weather and road conditions will affect automated vehicles – it found inconsistency between different cars with these features which are already on highways and suggests limitations are not yet understood
    Read More
  • Car2Go to halt carsharing operations in Toronto
    May 29, 2018
    Car-sharing group Car2Go is suspending operations in Toronto, Canada, because of what it sees as restrictive regulations introduced by the city’s authorities. Toronto City Council is introducing its own free-floating carshare pilot on June 1 which Car2Go says makes its service ‘inoperable’. In a letter to users, Car2Go’s North America CEO Paul DeLong says that companies taking part in Toronto’s new pilot will be charged $1,499.02 per vehicle and that many streets which operate a residents’ parking permit
    Read More
  • Loughborough University to develop test bed for connected /AVs
    December 1, 2017
    Loughborough University, the academic partner to London’s Smart Mobility Lab, has been awarded £500,000 ($676,000) as part of the project to develop a research programme enabling a real-world test bed for connected and autonomous vehicles. It will conduct research and development into connected roads, alongside other contributions including a vehicle fleet for experimental purposes; cooperative intersection management systems; high accuracy GPS; 5G and large-scale vehicle to anything communication capabilit
    Read More

Highlighted Content