Setting out the ITS stall at Pittsburgh plenary

Yesterday’s Opening Plenary saw Google’s Chris Urmson give the keynote address and ITS America announcing the winners of its 2015 Best of ITS Awards.
June 2, 2015 Read time: 2 mins
Google’s Chris Urmson

Yesterday’s Opening Plenary saw 1691 Google’s Chris Urmson (pictured) give the keynote address and ITS America announcing the winners of its 2015 Best of ITS Awards. Urmson told the packed auditorium that Americans collectively waste the equivalent of 162 lifetimes every day while stuck in traffic, creating a need for Google’s self-driving car.

He also said that test drivers were told that the prototype vehicle they were in could fail at any point yet started to trust the tech after just 15 minutes. Soon they were relaxed enough to enjoy the opportunity to do other things while traveling.

He also told of the difficulties in developing reliable systems to detect the world around them, including cyclists’ hand signals and knowing the difference between the flashing lights on a police car and those on a school bus. However, he said there remains the need to recognise anomalous situations that might arise – including a duck running around the road pursued by a lady in a mobility scooter.

Afterwards, The Best of ITS Awards presentation recognised projects that demonstrate specific and measurable outcomes and exemplified innovation by establishing a ‘new dimension of performance.

Oregon DOT won the Best New Innovative Products, Services or Applications award for its ‘OR 217 Active Traffic Management’ for implementing ITS including as queue warning, variable advisory speed signs and grip sensors to counter some 200 accidents per year.

The Sustainability and Transportation award honoured Utah DOT’s ‘Winter Road Weather Index’ project while 378 Cubic Transportation Systems and the Chicago Transit Authority took the Partnership Deployment award for its ‘Chicago Transit Authority Ventura Update: Open and Loving It’ project. 213 Qualcomm Technologies and 5400 Honda R&D Americas won the Research, Design and Innovation award for their ‘DSRC-based-Vehicleto- Pedestrian and Other Vulnerable Road User Safety Project.’

ITS America’s President and CEO, Regina Hopper said: “These companies are moving the industry forward and proving that they will improve our quality of life.”

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • More cooperation, fewer barriers
    May 21, 2012
    Increasing cooperation between the public and private sector and a less rigid approach to standards formulation are the keys to transportation’s future, according to Chris Vein, the Deputy White House Chief Technology Officer.
    Read More
  • Jaime Lerner, urban planning legend, to receive Leadership in Transport Award
    May 17, 2012
    Jaime Lerner, visionary urban planner from Brazil and pioneer of globally successful public transport ideas, is the winner of the first Leadership in Transport Award, created by the International Transport Forum, at the OECD, an intergovernmental organisation for the transport sector that comprises 52 member countries. The award was conceived to honour public figures that have, through exceptional vision and leadership, made a lasting positive impact, resulting in major advances for transport.
    Read More
  • Chicago integrates regional transit fares
    December 16, 2014
    Travellers in Chicago will soon be able to use a single app to plan their journey, pay and receive real-time alerts across all public transit services in the Chicago region. The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA), suburban bus operator Pace and commuter rail system Metra have awarded Cubic Transportation Systems a US$5.4 million contract to supply an integrated mobile application and system supporting a wide variety of mobile ticketing, mobile top up, contactless mobile payment using Near Field Communication (
    Read More
  • US budget proposals seek recognise ITS benefits
    April 30, 2015
    President Obama’s latest budget brings some good news for the transportation and ITS sectors. President Obama’s proposed 2016 budget could see more progress on many of America’s ingrained transportation problems than has been achieved in some time and includes a six-year $478 billion surface transportation reauthorisation. That is, of course, provided it clears all of the administrative hurdles to become law.
    Read More

Highlighted Content