Rollout of connected vehicle technologies must become a national priority, says Young

Toward making America’s roadways safer, U.S. Sen. Todd Young (R-IN) and a bipartisan group of his colleagues called on the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) to make deployment of connected vehicle technologies like Cellular Vehicle-to-Everything (C-V2X) a national priority. 

“Strong federal leadership from DOT in the rapid development and implementation of a C-V2X deployment plan will help achieve our mutual goals of eliminating traffic deaths and making America’s roads safer and more efficient for all users,” wrote Sen. Young and three lawmakers, including U.S. Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI), in a recent letter sent to DOT Secretary Pete Buttigieg.

The senators also said they support DOT’s draft plan released earlier this year to accelerate the deployment of C-V2X, an intelligent transportation system (ITS) technology that allows for data sharing between vehicles, roadside infrastructure, and nearby road users to enable various roadway safety and efficiency applications like collision prevention, traffic signal priority for first responders or transit vehicles, and improved school bus safety.

“With your direct engagement, C-V2X can become a core component of our modernized ITS,” the senators wrote. “We are encouraged by DOT’s announcement of its draft plan for connectivity at its October V2X Summit. In addition, we believe a comprehensive deployment strategy for C-V2X should be a feature of DOT’s National Roadway Safety Strategy.”

Sen. Young and his colleagues also support efforts by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which in 2020 repurposed the 5.850-5.925 GHz band that Congress reserved for use by transportation safety technologies.

“We believe input from DOT and other federal stakeholders supporting the FCC’s efforts to facilitate immediate deployments of C-V2X technologies is critical to averting additional preventable traffic deaths while also improving roadway efficiencies for all users, both rural and urban,” they wrote.

The senators requested that Buttigieg answer several questions, including what steps DOT is taking to advance C-V2X technologies, and to what extent DOT is working with other federal agencies to advance deployment of C-V2X technologies and to understand its safety benefits.

“We support DOT’s commitment to make our roads safer for all users with the goal of achieving zero fatalities,” they wrote. “Accomplishing this critical public safety objective will require DOT, other federal agencies, state and local partners, and other transportation stakeholders to adopt meaningful technology solutions, including deployment of C-V2X.”

Indiana Department of Transportation Commissioner Michael Smith; Michigan Department of Transportation Director Bradley Wieferich; the 5G Automotive Association; the Intelligent Transportation Society of America; the Road to Zero Coalition; and PeopleForBikes endorsed the letter.