New V2X Technology at DOT with Grafton deButts and Brian Cronin

This week, The Buzz presents a conversation with Grafton deButts from Strongbridge LLC and the ACT-IAC Department of Transportation Federal Insights Exchange (FIE), as they sit down with Brian Cronin, the forward-thinking Director of the Intelligent Transportation Systems Joint Program Office at the U-S Department of Transportation. Together, they explore the world of Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) technology—a game-changer poised to redefine road safety, mobility, and sustainability on a global scale.

Brian shares his expert perspective on how V2X enables seamless communication between vehicles, infrastructure, and road users, paving the way for smarter, safer, and more efficient transportation systems. From the future of connected mobility to its far-reaching economic, societal, and environmental implications, this discussion is packed with insights you won’t want to miss.

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Intro/Outro Music: See a Brighter Day/Gloria Tells
Courtesy of Epidemic Sound

(Episodes 1-159: Intro/Outro Music: Focal Point/Young Community
Courtesy of Epidemic Sound)

Transcript

INTRO

Yohanna: [00:00:00] Welcome to The Buzz from ACT-IAC —your go-to source for the latest insights and thought-provoking conversations from the forefront of technology and innovation. I’m Yohanna Baez, your host, and I’m thrilled to welcome you to an episode you won’t want to miss!

Yohanna: In this episode, we enjoy a conversation with Grafton deButts from Strongbridge LLC and the ACT-IAC Department of Transportation Federal Insights Exchange (FIE), as they sit down with Brian Cronin, the forward-thinking Director of the Intelligent Transportation Systems Joint Program Office at the U.S. Department of Transportation. Together, they explore the world of Vehicle-to-Everything. (V-TWO-X) technology. A game-changer poised to redefine road safety, mobility, and sustainability on a global scale.

Yohanna: Brian shares his expert perspective on how V2X enables seamless communication between vehicles, infrastructure, and road users, paving the way for smarter, safer, and more efficient transportation systems. From the [00:01:00] future of connected mobility to its far-reaching economic, societal, and environmental implications, this discussion is packed with insights you won’t want to miss.

Yohanna: Whether you’re a transportation professional, a tech enthusiast, or simply curious about the future of smart mobility, this episode has something for you. Tune in now to discover how V2X technology is shaping the future of transportation—and don’t forget to subscribe to The Buzz so you’re always in the loop!

GRAFTON: [00:00:00] [00:01:00] Hi

GRAFTON: listeners, and welcome to the ACT IAC Federal Insights Exchange podcast. Today's podcast features the Department of Transportation's Federal Insights Exchange. My name is Grafton DeButts, a director at StrongBridge LLC, a software development and data management company working across. The federal government and a [00:02:00] majority of the modes inside of D.

GRAFTON: O. T. Today. I'm pleased to be joined by the director of intelligent transportation systems joint program office at the federal highway administration. Brian Cronin for those that don't know, the I. T. S. J. P. O. works across all agencies. Or modes within dot to improve the integration of innovative technologies across the nation's transportation systems Brian, welcome, and thank you for joining us 

BRIAN: Thanks GRAFTON .

BRIAN: I'm happy to be here. 

GRAFTON: So today's conversation. We're going to be focused. Uh, mostly on the vehicle to everything Initiative, but um, I think before we do that, why don't you share with us just very briefly about your office and What it is You all are responsible for there. 

BRIAN: Yeah, great. Hi. Um, the joint program office or intelligent transportation systems.

BRIAN: Uh, I have [00:03:00] a long history. We're a 30 year, uh, organization and really we work with state and local agencies, the auto industry, trucking industry, uh, public and private sector to look at how we can use resources. Real time information to better improve the safety and operations of the transportation system.

BRIAN: So in the past, we worked on creating traffic signal systems or tolling systems to you go buy a new car today that has a collision warning system. We help fund that research. Most recently, we've been really focused on automated vehicles and how we incorporate those safely into the transportation system and connected vehicles.

BRIAN: Cool sharing information in real time between vehicles and the infrastructure we call that vehicle to everything. And in the future, we're really looking at digital infrastructure and thinking about how data and systems used to really make the system perform more effectively. [00:04:00] Brian, how did you, how did you get into 

GRAFTON: this?

BRIAN: Yeah, great. I, uh, just love technology and innovation and the ITS program provides this great opportunity. We have 110 million discretionary program to really work at a national strategic level with the auto industry, as well as our state and local partners to, to implement new and innovative approaches.

BRIAN: And so, uh, I. I grew up a civil engineer and just the opportunity to get more into technology and innovation presented itself early in my career. And I just loved working in the area. And really, you can see the safety systems and solutions that we put in and real time information. If you go catch a bus today or a train, uh, I worked earlier in my career on, you know, when is the next bus or train arriving?

BRIAN: Uh, and, uh, now, more recently, I mentioned, you can go buy a car and, uh, I worked with [00:05:00] the auto industry looking at how we bring in collision warning and, uh, backup camera and sensing. So the ability to sort of see, do research that you can see impacting everyone's daily life has just been so valuable. 

GRAFTON: Um, yeah, you have, uh, no offense to anybody else at D.

GRAFTON: O. T. but I feel like you have one of the coolest jobs. Um, you know, when you talk to people and they say, oh, the future vehicles 1 day, the car is going to be able to do this, or we're going to be able to do that. And after meeting you, I realize I'm like, oh, oh, I know the guy that's working on all of those things and, you know, and things we haven't even dreamed up yet.

GRAFTON: are coming out of the ITS JPO. So it's very cool. So let's dive into vehicle to everything or uh, V2X a little bit. Um, you know, and you talked a little bit earlier about y'all's earlier work in, in transportation and geospatial, but how, how is [00:06:00] the V2X technology different than what is in a, Uh, typical cars, uh, communication 

BRIAN: system today.

GRAFTON: Okay, 

BRIAN: so with a car today, there's sort of 2 pieces. You have sensors on that vehicle radar camera, ultrasonic sensors that have a certain range that they can see and detect. Uh, another vehicle, a pedestrian, an object in the road, uh, but many times there are objects, say, in front of a very large truck that your sensors can't see.

BRIAN: And so, uh, and the similarly on the infrastructure side, we have traffic signals that have, uh, behind the red, yellow and green. There's a number of. Of seconds before they change. And so, uh, or at a work zone, there's information about the speed limit changing or a road closure. So there is [00:07:00] data, uh, beyond some of these systems that if we could share.

BRIAN: So the way I like to explain on a vehicle to everything is if you're driving and you're following a large truck. And you can't see in front of that truck and your sensors on your car can't see in front of that truck and a car in front slams on its break. You would know today, uh, only when you see the brake lights on the back of the truck.

BRIAN: But with vehicle to everything technology, if both vehicles are equipped when that as soon as that 1st vehicle slams on its break. Your vehicle would get a message that there's been a deceleration by a vehicle in front of you. Uh, and so you would get a warning message that you should be accelerated and that would get to you probably before you saw the brake lights of the truck in front of you.

BRIAN: So, it just really extends the safety capability and information, or if you're approaching a intersection and someone's [00:08:00] about to run a red light. Uh, you could get a message, uh, that the infrastructure determined that there was somebody driving through the intersection and the light has already changed.

BRIAN: Your car could get a message saying, you know, stop. Don't don't proceed because there's someone about to run a red light. Yeah, 

GRAFTON: um, yeah, as you described that 20 years ago, this would have really helped me out of a reckless driving ticket. I received because I like to say I avoided an accident, but the police officer said it was reckless driving, but you never you never know what, um.

GRAFTON: You know, the cause of the cause of a fender bender probably happened 6 cars ahead, but by the time the reaction time catches up with you, you know, you're 6 cars back. And when it gets to you, there's no time left. Um, so that's, um, yeah, and, you know, I know I'm not the only only 1 and, uh, you know, and I got out without a scratch on my vehicle.

GRAFTON: That [00:09:00] doesn't happen very often. Um, so, you know, this is, this is involving. Commercial vehicle manufacturers, obviously, and then all sorts of other, other things. So what is, um, you know, from, from jurisdictions to, you know, you're talking transportation, construction companies, you know, folks who are doing the work where, where all of this technology, uh, and hardware needs to be, needs to be in some ways embedded.

GRAFTON: Um, so let's talk just kind of specifically, what is, The Department of Transportation's role, obviously, you're not creating the technology, manufacturing it, and then And then mailing it out to every intersection in the United States. So what is, what is your role in, in the entire V2X implementation? 

BRIAN: Okay.

BRIAN: Well, let's step back a second and sort of ground it. And, uh, you know, we call our vehicle and [00:10:00] everything plan, the saving lives with connectivity, uh, national. Vehicle to everything deployment plan. And so the reason for that is, uh, our nation really has a crisis on our roads with fatalities. There's over 42, 795 people died in 2022 as a modest decline from 2021, but we're up 10 percent since 2020, uh, pedestrian fatalities, uh, sometimes returned to vulnerable road users or pedestrians are back.

BRIAN: Bicyclists. Uh, those are up, uh, 20 percent uh, in, uh, uh, since 13 percent since 2020. And so it just dramatically has been increasing. And so, uh, We're really looking at what are the technologies and approaches that can help us, uh, improve and really ultimately get down to 0 fatalities. A department in our national roadway safety [00:11:00] strategy talks about different approaches and technology is 1 of the tools and in particular vehicle.

BRIAN: Everything as I explained earlier about how we can help sense and provide information earlier that can improve, uh. It reduced fatalities on the road and so when we talk about our role, because, as you indicated, we don't deploy the technology or state and local agencies would put something on an intersection or on a highway and the auto industry or trucking industry would put something in a vehicle.

BRIAN: So, for the last 15 years, we've been working with industry to create the standards. To pilot and prototype the capabilities, we did a safety pilot back in 2012 to 2014 timeframe in Ann Arbor, really getting the information and proving out that if you implemented this technology in the real world, we would prevent crashes.

BRIAN: We moved along to something we call the connective vehicle pilot, which [00:12:00] extended beyond safety and looked at mobility benefits. And we also started looking at equipping intersections and pedestrian safety. And 1 of the other things, if you, uh. Some highways have, as they exit into the city street, you might have a queue backing up on the highway as people are waiting.

BRIAN: And so if you're speeding along, and all of a sudden, there's a queue in front of you, we could alert you to that. So, uh, the U. S. D. O. T. is really where we And my office in particular funded sort of standards development, pilots and prototyping, uh, engaging with the industry. And now, as we release, released our national plan, we also funded 3 large scale, uh, implementations that are no longer research, but are very large deployments that will, uh, provide, uh, Benefits information to really help make sure over the next 10 years, everyone's moving forward to deployment and [00:13:00] we can document the benefits we're receiving.

BRIAN: Got it. Got it. 

GRAFTON: So, um, you know, that's, uh, that's a massive, uh, massive deployment kind of vision. Um, what are, um,

GRAFTON: uh, I guess what I'm getting at is what, how close. Do you feel, you know, we are to beginning that deployment? What challenges, you know, have, have, uh, have been in your way? I know there's a, there's a major challenge that, um, that you can mention that was just, just, uh, overcome in, in a way yesterday. So, um, but tell us a little bit more about that.

GRAFTON: Kind of what are those challenges and hurdles that you face? 

BRIAN: Yeah, that's a great question. And, and as you indicated, that last hurdle, uh, was, was cleared yesterday when the federal [00:14:00] communication commission issued the final rule for use of the 5. 9 gigahertz. So, uh, spectrum, so there's 30 megahertz of communication spectrum that's available for doing this vehicle, the vehicle, vehicle, the infrastructure, projects.

BRIAN: Pedestrian to vehicle messaging, and, uh, a key at the heart of of deploying. This is having the FCC established rules that provide the certainty of how the spectrum is going to work and how it evolved over time. And so, uh, just yesterday, November 21st, the FCC issued this final rule over, uh, years of work.

BRIAN: Of work and especially over the last year with D. O. T. D. O. D. Uh, NASA and T. I. A. F. C. C. All working together to help provide best input on how to use the spectrum in addition to all our stakeholders. So that was 1. Go ahead. 

GRAFTON: Yeah, I was gonna say, so to, to, [00:15:00] um, you know, this is where we'll get into the weeds real, real fast.

GRAFTON: And I'm going to, I'm going to take us there and then we're going to run away from the weeds as fast as possible. But, um, can you help us understand a little bit more about what is these 30 megahertz and kind of in the, in the, in the 5. 9. Um, make sure I get my technology, uh, gigahertz band, if you could kind of explain that in layman's terms so that anybody listening understands what this means and why it is.

GRAFTON: Why it is vital to this to be two X 

BRIAN: getting off the ground. Yeah. Yeah. So when we're talking about sending information from a vehicle. So think about the speed you're driving the direction you're headed. If you have a massive deceleration for breaking. Or the, uh, time of the traffic signal and how many seconds before it changes from red to [00:16:00] yellow to green.

BRIAN: Uh, and and another entities receiving that and going to provide a, uh, a crash warning message. So, in order to send those, you need spectrum availability. And then if a Ford is going to talk to a GM, going to talk to an Audi, going to talk to a Honda, going to talk to a Toyota, it's going to talk to a traffic signal in Virginia and DC and Maryland.

BRIAN: You want them speaking the same language. You want them able to trust the message that they're receiving, and you want them to be Those messages that get there reliably and accurately and consistently. And so by having dedicated spectrum, this 30 megahertz and what's called the 5. 9 band provides that.

BRIAN: And so, uh, you know, while cellular communication uses other spectrum, your TV broadcasting uses others. Spectrum Wi Fi uses other spectrum. This is spectrum set aside for this communication in the transportation [00:17:00] system between vehicles and other users. 

GRAFTON: What's the typical range of this spectrum? 

BRIAN: Uh, it's about 300 meters.

BRIAN: So it is, you know, close distance, uh, uh, messaging, uh, and really meant to be sort of operating on the transportation system. Got it. 

GRAFTON: So, so this is all about what is happening within 3 football fields of your vehicle at any time. 

BRIAN: Yeah, there is also, I think, another part of our plan, which talks about so that that that spectrum and that piece we call direct, uh, messaging, direct V to X.

BRIAN: Uh, and so that means this 30 megahertz you're talking, you know, Right next to each other. Network V to X is there is messaging that we can get in using cell phones into our vehicles. You might have ways on your vehicle or, um, Apple maps or other kinds of, [00:18:00] um, messaging systems. You might have your vehicle talks to, uh, the headquarters operation to send maintenance data or some other kinds of data sometimes between your OEM.

BRIAN: The original equipment manufacturer like Ford or Toyota or GM, uh, so those use use cell phones. And so there is still messaging that happens using a cell phone. Uh, and those can be good for things that are like a mile ahead, or 2 miles ahead, or, you know, slower speed that aren't crash eminent type situations.

BRIAN: And so that that connectivity and communication is also part of what we talk about vehicle to everything. But when we're talking safety and. Collision warning and eminent crashes. It's this 30 megahertz at 59. that's so critical. 

GRAFTON: Is there, um, any, uh, any challenges that you see with security and privacy? I mean, I know [00:19:00] we're talking, we're talking about kind of a very finite space, but that is always one of the first things that comes up whenever anyone is sharing any data.

GRAFTON: And I'm sure there have been folks that have asked this question before me, obviously. What, what, How have you addressed that or what have you done to kind of quell some of those concerns? 

BRIAN: Yeah, so 1 thing I think I knew it asked us earlier is that the, this ecosystem involves the department of transportation and FCC, but then all the auto industry, the state and local agencies, equipment suppliers, folks that do training at universities and so forth.

BRIAN: There's a lot of players that have been working together and. One of the things we took early on was something we called security by design. And so at the heart of, uh, I talked earlier about sending trusted messages is something called the [00:20:00] security credential management system. And so this is a system that uses, uh, public key infrastructure.

BRIAN: And those are very technical terms, but let's just say it, there is a strong technical approach for, uh, when you send, uh, This data was, uh, vehicle data is a lot of times referred to as the basic safety message, the speed, the heading. If there's a sudden acceleration or deceleration, what's not in there is the, uh, VIN number or any.

BRIAN: Privacy related information about the vehicle, so I don't know it's graphed vehicle. I don't know what type of vehicle it is. I just know that a, a vehicle ahead just slammed on that's breaks and, you know, we know what lane is in and we know you're, you're, you're. Been on your vehicle, you get that message and, you know, that, oh, that's in my lane.

BRIAN: Uh, the vehicle would say, I need to hit the brake. So there's a security system that is in place [00:21:00] that any vehicle that's going to participate in this ecosystem has to be credentialed. So, there is a sort of trust process that, uh, when there's a, what's called an onboard unit or a road sign unit, that is Part of this ecosystem, it has to be certified that it's trusted.

BRIAN: And when they send messages, these messages have certificates that then also can be updated and changed. And there's a misbehavior process. So if somebody was trying to break in, you can actually tell that that's not a trusted source and don't don't. Don't trust those messages. So if someone was trying to spoof that, you know, you're breaking hard and going to cause a crash, you would know that that is not from a trusted source.

BRIAN: So don't listen to that message. Uh, so there's a security system and then, you know, diving more on the privacy is we're, we're not, we're not, uh, we're not sharing VIN numbers. We're not sharing information. And that [00:22:00] graft and driving or any of that, it's basically, you know, heading and direction and speed.

BRIAN: And so, and it's within this 300 meter range,

GRAFTON: you know, and you mentioned the, um, a lot of the other organizations that have to. Have to play well together, um, in, in order for all this to work from, from, um, uh, educational institutions that are doing, you know, do it, doing research and creating a lot of, a lot of, a lot of cool stuff that we're going to see on our, our roads over the next, you know, couple, couple decades to the manufacturers that you have to do it today.

GRAFTON: Um, you know, I think the federal government more than maybe we realize is in the game of, I like to say winning friends and influencing people. Yeah.

GRAFTON: So Kelly, so much for [00:23:00] The services that happen in our government are actually opt in, not necessarily, you know, mandated. Um, there's a lot that is mandated, obviously, but, but there's so much out there that is opt in within, um, within various agencies. How are, how are you, how are, how's your office handling building trust and.

GRAFTON: And doing things that require for, for, for leading technology, uh, 

BRIAN: to be adopted. And so we have mentioned this, uh, saving lives with connectivity, national vehicle, everything deployment plan. And so, because there are so many partners and stakeholders looking to implement and for us to have an effect.

BRIAN: Active system, uh, industry, both state, locals, car companies, everyone said we need national leadership. We need a plan. We need to understand how this is going to come together because if just infrastructure owners implemented [00:24:00] stuff at an intersection, but no vehicles were ever equipped or if just vehicles were equipped and nobody implemented any infrastructure.

BRIAN: Infrastructure technology, then the ecosystem wouldn't work. We would not be saving these 42, 000 lives a year. And so we came out with a plan that put over the next 10 years goals of how we essentially get from near 0 implementation to wide scale national interoperable deployment over the next 10 years.

BRIAN: And so we set out near term goals of 25 percent of intersections in the top 75 metro areas and 20 percent of the highway system is has this capability. We set mid term goals, which add to that and longer term goals, which sees, you know, broad scale, national deployment. And so with, uh. We are not doing any, any rulemaking.

BRIAN: We have the SCC rules on the spectrum, which just says, you know, if you're going to use the spectrum, this is what you need to do. [00:25:00] But what we have through the bipartisan infrastructure law is a tremendous amount of resources on the infrastructure side to influence deployment and to encourage and help.

BRIAN: So this is both formula money that all state and locals have, uh, increased amount and there's wide scale. Eligibility of V to X technology so they can they can build a lane. They can add new pavement, but they could add V to X equipment on the roadside and as an eligible expense of any highway project.

BRIAN: What we did, though. Is just issued 3 V to X accelerator grants. So 1 was to Maricopa county. 1 was to Texas and 1 was to Utah. D. O. T. who brought in Wyoming and Colorado as well. So in Maricopa county, they're implementing 750 intersections, 400 vehicles that are transit vehicles, emergency vehicles, and freight fleets and [00:26:00] 75, um.

BRIAN: It's a virtual roadside intersections to be able to do pedestrian safety applications, transit signal priority, which allows buses to get to their destinations more faster and reliably, uh, and emergency vehicle priority, which. Um, allows you to respond to an incident faster. So they're choosing to put in infrastructure and use their public fleets to start gaining value from that implementation early on while we wait for vehicles that you and I could

BRIAN: In Texas, Texas Transportation, Texas A& M Transportation Institute is working with Houston and TxDOT, and they're implementing a thousand intersections in Houston, another 50 in College Station, Texas, and then the highways between them, as well as some fleet vehicles and Texas A& M and Houston to allow flood warning.

BRIAN: Uh, and signal priority and pedestrian safety. So if you're familiar with Houston, they get a [00:27:00] lot of rain and a lot of flooded roads. So, or hurricane evacuations. So for using this type of capability to communicate what roads are closed, uh, and how to traverse when we're doing an evacuation or something is a valuable thing that they're, they're pursuing with this technology in Texas.

BRIAN: And then lastly, Utah. Uh, they've had a lot of implementation already in Utah and Wyoming and Colorado, so they're expanding on their implementations, adding another 450 intersections as well as, uh, 300 sites on on highways. And so when, uh, this is done, you're going to have all the major highways and Utah, Colorado and Wyoming covered with this capability as well as over.

BRIAN: Over 30 percent of intersections in Denver and Salt Lake City. And so they're also doing, uh, infrastructure, uh, safety and pedestrian safety and, uh, information with the buses. But, you know, they're all winter weather, uh, states and, and winter, [00:28:00] uh, winter activity states. 1 of the things I'd like to say in Utah, they're implementing their intersections and they're going to have transit priority and emergency vehicle.

BRIAN: But also by putting this in their intersections and on snow plows. They're able to clear snow, uh, offer roads, uh, 20 to 50 percent faster. And so that makes the road safer, but it also helps us get to the ski slopes faster, which is certainly economic engine for for state like Utah in the winter. And so there's a wide use of this technology, starting with safety, but a whole bunch of other approaches as well.

GRAFTON: Yeah, 2 things the, the, the 1st, it stung a little bit because as I'm thinking about skiing and stuff, and, you know, hoping here in the D. C. metro area, we have, we, we, we, we get to at least smell some snow this year. Um, but you mentioned they would be plowing the roads faster. How does that happen? [00:29:00] 

BRIAN: Yeah, so the, the traffic signal is equipped with a roadside unit and the snow plow is equipped with the onboard unit.

BRIAN: And so the signal would sense that a snow plow was coming and it's and if there was a red light, it would turn it green. If there was a green light, it would hold it. So the light wouldn't turn red. So essentially the snowplow would never have to stop, uh, and just could drive down the street and keep plowing.

BRIAN: Uh, and so it just sort of makes it a faster, smoother operation. Got it. Got it. I

GRAFTON: feel like there should be a premium user service somewhere like, like we could, we could, we could buy the, uh, for, for probably an exorbitant fee. You could have the V2X, uh, easy pass. 

BRIAN: Yeah, yeah, yeah, well, Maricopa is going to explore with trucks, uh, and, and freight movement about kind of looking at the, is there a business process to, [00:30:00] uh, uh, provide, uh, trucks, you know, we, we all want our package tomorrow.

BRIAN: Uh, and so there's a lot more trucks. Local truck traffic, uh, than, than maybe there used to be. And so that it, that is a service that's being considered there. And we'll, we'll see how that could extend out to, you know, but we, we want this capable for, for all users. And so, uh, you know, one of the things is there's a lot of focus right now on pedestrian safety and trying to figure out how we, how we get pedestrians equipped or bicyclists with this technology.

BRIAN: Yeah. So, so dive into that a little 

GRAFTON: bit. What would, what does that look like? Obviously in a car, we, we are surrounded by all sorts of technology, but when you're in a, when you're on a bike and you're walking other than, you know, maybe I've got my ear pods in or, you know, or whatever, which actually probably most walkers and bikers do now are.

GRAFTON: AirPods or whatever. What? So what? What does that look like from an equipping them standpoint? 

BRIAN: [00:31:00] Yeah, I mean, there's a couple options. So one is applications on a cell phone. And so there's there's certainly questions about if you're walking in your phones in your pocket, how do you get alerted? Uh, But it might be that you have up on that's alerting drivers.

BRIAN: So it's not as much as, uh, you know, alerting you not to walk as much as, uh, you're coming up to a crosswalk, uh, and alerting drivers that there, there's a pedestrian there that maybe they're not seeing the, and so there could be an application on your phone that, uh, you, you set out before you had out walking and, and could, could be.

BRIAN: Broadcast out messages of here. I am, you know, I'm walking, um, you know, that that might help someone. To help a driver vehicle see the other would be sometimes there's a mid block crossings and there's a, uh, a push button or something where you could get to, uh, to signal to cross a walk. Well, we could equip those in those signals to also [00:32:00] broadcast a message that, you know, there are, there are pedestrians walking across the road.

BRIAN: Uh, there's also, uh. Sometimes cameras or other sensors on roadways that can look into a crosswalk and see that there's somebody walking that intersection could send a message to the vehicle that there are actually pedestrians in a crosswalk. If you think if you want to turn left. And a road, uh, you may not always see a pedestrian walking in the crosswalk on that far part of the intersection where you're trying to go.

BRIAN: So, if there was a, a camera sensor that was at the intersection, detecting that pedestrian, and then sending a message to vehicles that were about to turn left that there's actually somebody there. Uh, so there's a variety of different ways, uh, from sort of having the user have something to having infrastructure sense, um, to, to having other capabilities with the vehicles.

GRAFTON: Very cool. I look forward to be, you know, walking down the street 1 day [00:33:00] and getting that little buzz that says, hey, don't step out. Well, let's kind of switch gears. Last couple of questions for you. Just kind of switching gears more into your leadership of this organization. Now, still, still in the, around the topic of B2X, but you know, you, you are, you are both things.

GRAFTON: One, you are probably the, the, the biggest cheerleader for you, for the people in your organization who, you know, are hands on and, and, and you have the benefit of getting to, To talk about kind of all the, all this cool stuff that they're doing on a daily basis. Um, but I know your job's also to look out at the horizon and, you know, and to be mindful of, Hey, where, where are the opportunities for us, but also where, where, where are the, um, uh, you know, where, where, where are the bogeys where, you know, what are, what are the challenges that maybe you don't see?

GRAFTON: We're not seeing yet. What, what are some of those? I would say horizon challenges that you see in a [00:34:00] nationwide deployment plan. 

BRIAN: Yeah, great. I think, you know, one of the big opportunities in this, the vehicle, everything kind of. Kind of happen at the same time that a term is being used digital infrastructure.

BRIAN: So, uh, you know, data is everywhere, uh, and we can, uh, digitize the transportation system. So if you think about if you're driving right now, there's a stop sign, there's a speed limit sign. There's a lane close sign. What if all that information was, was digitized? Digital and, uh, reliably, uh, made available, uh, we've it's come up a lot as automated vehicles are starting to implement and move into the system.

BRIAN: And so, you know, as they're trying to test out in Texas on I 45, delivering freight real time, you know, recognizing that, you 20 miles, there's a 10 [00:35:00] foot shoulder. But in these next 10, there's only a 2 foot shoulder or, you know, the speed limits 50 here, but it's 65 here. And then it's 70 or in a, or there's now a work zone and it's, it's 40 miles an hour.

BRIAN: So, providing this type of information to a regular driver as well as an automated vehicle is very helpful. And so, you know, we've been trying to work out how to accurately digitize a lot of the roadway infrastructure, uh, from it's helping in the design phase, but then it's going to help also in the delivery of different transportation systems.

BRIAN: So, you know, we, uh, 1 examples we've been working on for a while now is kind of work zone data exchange. So, you know, if you know where all these work zones are and whether they're active, meaning there's. Workers present, um, is there a lane close? How long is it closed? Is there a speed limit? If you can provide this information reliably and accurately can really help [00:36:00] us all.

BRIAN: Uh, because, uh, if you just think of remember a year ago when there is that 6 person fatal crash in a work zone in Maryland, uh, Those types of crashes, maybe not always sick, they're happening more frequently than we would like. And so getting people to slow down and just recognize that there's a work zone ahead and the speed is different.

BRIAN: So when we started this, most state duties did not have a digital representation of that information. And so, you know, how to train workers, how to create a process to, if you're establishing a work zone, what what What are the metrics and data you'd want to put in for that? And then how would you make that reliably and accurately available?

BRIAN: So that's an example. There's a whole variety of others. So we, we've created this digital infrastructure program to really think of where are the opportunities, uh, to digitize and provide reliable information, and then V to X is just one of the mechanisms to deliver that information. Got it. Got 

GRAFTON: it. Right.

GRAFTON: [00:37:00] Yes. Cause it's, this just becomes piece one piece of a, mhm. You know, of a, of a whole, yeah, a whole complex, complex system that will, that will be created, you know, it's, it currently exists in pieces, but this, it will all become kind of interconnected. Well, um, you know, what, what message do you have or, or, or can you think of for, for industry that would, um, that would love to support what you're doing?

GRAFTON: Um, You know, what are ways that other folks, even if they're not direct stakeholders, can engage in supporting this advancement of transportation 

BRIAN: technology? Yeah, great question. So, I think, you know, as our, uh, strategic plan in the department, and especially the research plan talks about it being a system of systems and talks about sort of the opportunity, which I mentioned.

BRIAN: Here about, and I know is very much in sort of the world of data, uh, and [00:38:00] digitizing just an information system. So, you know, there are a lot of technology pieces from sort of the communications hardware to really saying, well, if I have the communications hardware to send information is my local agency or state.

BRIAN: Prepared do they have the databases, the files, the information that that they could share readily to improve the system. So I think, you know, thinking about that, I think 1 of the things as you're, as the industry thinks about saving lives with connectivity, this is not just about equipping every highway, but it's, you know, most of the traffic signals, you know, so we're getting at the local level.

BRIAN: So, you know, as you engage, uh, uh, like Fairfax County or the city of Alexandria or this Washington, D. C. or Bethesda or, you know, P. G. County, there's a lot of different stakeholders. And we've mostly been talking a lot [00:39:00] with the state duties. There's been some cities and counties that have been very active.

BRIAN: Uh, but we're gonna have a lot of education and training. We've we've ramped up our education and training program on this technology now that we're really at a deployment phase and and not researching anymore. So thinking about how how you as stakeholders could understand sort of the parts of the ecosystem.

BRIAN: But you'll know the talk, uh, to your colleagues and people you engage with about this technology is coming. It can really save lives that we should be thinking about it in our community. 

GRAFTON: Sure. Yeah, I think what probably a lot of people don't think about as much, but what's happening in local government, you know, and at the end of the day, that's you always hear about the last mile, right?

GRAFTON: The, the, the last mile challenge of any deployment. And, um, you know, oftentimes when, when it comes to something like this, it is, it is your local, it is your local county, county board of supervisors or town council that [00:40:00] might in some ways have, have the final say on. On integration. So, um, you know, that's the one thing I think any of us can do when we, if you, if you put out the call or the bat signal, I'm not sure you have to just figure out what your bat signal looks like.

BRIAN: If it's a car. Yeah. Yeah. It's something else. Yeah. We need to know if you put out the call to, you know, to how to show up at some of whether it's showing up at a meeting, you know, to take 2 hours of our life to go to, to go help, you know, Connect a national transportation networks. A pretty cool thing to do.

GRAFTON: So, um, hey, with that, Brian, where can we, um, where can we see you next? Where can we see your team out and about? I know, you know, there's some major conferences coming up with the, uh, The transportation board annual meeting and also, you know, I, I don't know if you're engaged in CES out in Vegas, but where, um, you know, where, where, where can we see you in [00:41:00] the, uh, in, in the near future and connect with your team?

BRIAN: Okay, great. Um, so 1 thing. Uh, kind of leading towards that, we, when we, uh, started, we issued a draft feed plan in, in November and the final plan in, in August. And, uh, we had a cohort of, of 25 public sector agencies back in January. That that group is now up to 50, uh, that are working with us, uh, once a month to coordinate inter uh, uh, across the US on deployment, uh, of V two X.

BRIAN: And with this FCC rule, we, we expect the car companies to. Just really jump in and move to deployment. So in that kind of context, 1 is I issue a director's blog about every other week. Uh, and so, you know, sort of subscribing to that, uh, or checking out the social media. We linked to that after that is sort of 1 way to see see us on a regular basis.

BRIAN: Uh, we, uh, as we are going to be at the transportation research board, uh, and I'll, uh, Be speaking [00:42:00] Monday afternoon, uh, giving, uh, annual sort of update. Uh, and a lot of our staff participate in various committees. We, we do have folks going out to see yes, uh, engaging a lot on security and, and a lot of the community out there on security and cyber issues or things Um, and so we're really excited about that, and we're really excited about the technology interest or wanting discussions on and then what we're really excited about in March is we're going to South by Southwest.

BRIAN: Uh, it's a really allows us to get to, uh, I think, uh, the real world and a different community to kind of talk about, you know, how this technology can really start saving lives, uh, and improve, uh, how we move through, through the system, uh, and, and where they're going to. Transform lives for everyone. So it's really, really exciting time, uh, as, uh, with yesterday with FCC and their piece, I think the industry is just poised to really take off.

BRIAN: Uh, I know that we're, we have, uh, [00:43:00] delivered 20 trainings, uh, across the country this year, uh, more to come next year and, uh, you know, we'll be in a variety of other places as well. 

GRAFTON: Awesome. Well, with that, Brian, thank you so much for being a part of this. Of today's, um, ACT IAC Federal Insight Exchange Podcast.

GRAFTON: This was really fun to be with you and look, look forward to the next time. 

BRIAN: Thanks, Grafton. Really enjoyed it. And I appreciate all the work by you and your [00:44:00] [00:45:00] colleagues.

OUTRO

Yohanna: [00:00:00] That's all for this week on The Buzz with ACT IAC.

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