Mitch Perry
Earlier this year, a national organization rated the Tampa Bay area as 11th in the nation for traffic congestion.
Obviously, the region has problems with traffic, which is perhaps why St. Petersburg state Senator Jeff Brandes called it a “game-changer” today in describing what could be a $17 million contract that the Tampa-Hillsborough Expressway Authority (THEA) was awarded by the U.S. Department of Transportation today to conduct what is known as a “Connected Vehicle” pilot program. It’s designed to make transportation safer, smarter and more energy efficient by outfitting cars, buses and roadside equipment with technology so that they can communicate with each about various traffic conditions.
“We will allow for cars, buses and roadside equipment with technology so that they can communicate with each other, and with people for realtime adjustments in various traffic conditions, said THEA Executive Director Joe Waggoner.”Our goals are to improve safety, for vehicles and pedestrians and bicyclists.”
“It is not a 20-year dream,” Waggoner added. “It is now. The future begins now.”
Officially, THEA received $2.4 million today to set up the first phase of a three-phase plan, which will take up to a year to set up. If that all goes well, the Expressway Authority would then receive $14 million from the Department of Transportation to implement the program, which will take place for 18 months. There would then be a three-year study period after that.
Tampa is one of three cities receiving grants from the Department of Transportation today to study connected and automatic vehicle technology. New York City and an unnamed smaller community were also to be tapped for the pilot program as well. It’s not the first time that the federal government has worked with a local community on a connected vehicle project. In 2012 the U.S. Department of Transportation began safety pilot project in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where they equipped nearly 3,000 cars, trucks and buses with Wi-Fi technology to “talk” to each other to help avoid crashes the improve traffic flow.
Brandes, the chairman of the Transportation Committee in the state Senate, was one of a host of lawmakers present at the news conference that took place at the Expressway Authority’s Tampa headquarters in the Channelside District on Monday morning. Senator Bill Nelson led the list of dignitaries, which also included Mayor Bob Buckhorn, City Council members Charlie Miranda, Mike Suarez and Lisa Montelione, and state representatives Dana Young, Janet Cruz , Ed Narain and Senator Brandes
THEA”s Waggoner said that his agency has been studying automated vehicles going back to 2013 when his agency signed a contract with the Center for Urban Transportation Research (CUTR) at USF. That came a couple of years after Brandes was able to pass legislation where autonomous and automated vehicles could be legally tested in Florida, one of only three states where that’s the case.
“This intelligent vehicle industry will eventually be a $35 billion industry here in the United States, ” said Peter Rogoff from the U.S. Department of Transportation. “And a lot of those jobs and a lot of that activity and a lot of that excitement is going to come right here to Tampa because you are one of the first movers as a result of this contract.” He said that the technology had the potential to reduce fatalities by as much as 80 percent.
The plan will require working with actors in the private sector, including Siemens, Booz Allen, HNTB and BMW. Sue Chrzan with the Expressway Authority says that the agency will also need volunteers to request putting the technology in their automobiles. “She also said that the Authority will need to learn how many volunteers they’ll need to be part of that study and how they’ll go about choosing them.
