An Electrifying Future for Transportation Infrastructure at the ITS World Congress
The global transportation industry is at a crossroads, with artificial intelligence, electrification, connectivity and digitization all poised to disrupt the way infrastructure is designed, built and managed. Despite the current geopolitical status of the United States, industry practitioners from around the world emphasize the need for global collaboration and standards.
“I have never seen such a fast rate of change,” said Laura Chace, president and CEO of ITS America, speaking at the ITS World Congress in Atlanta Aug. 24-28. Even from a year ago, the capabilities of AI to aid in infrastructure inspections and other transportation applications has accelerated, she said.
In the U.S., the city of Dublin, Ohio, is also serving as a testbed for smart infrastructure, said Jean-Ellen Willis, director of transportation and mobility. “The goal is to be the most connected community in the U.S.,” she said.
With a 100-gigabyte fiber network, and a 33 Smart Mobility Corridor that includes 432 strands of fiber, 63 road units and 40 connected intersections, the city is testing autonomous freight and autonomous truck platooning, she said. It also has a near-miss heat map regarding accidents, adaptive signal control that prioritizes pedestrians and, in winter, snowplows and other technologies.
A World First
Dublin isn’t the only U.S. region trying to pioneer the transportation future in tandem with global partners. Kapsch TrafficCom North America and the North Carolina Tollway Authority announced during the conference that they will deploy the world’s first production-level V2X tolling system on the Triangle Expressway.
This joint initiative will move connected vehicle-based tolling from the concept and pilot phases into a live, operational environment near Raleigh.
The project integrates two distinct technologies—roadside legacy tolling and CV data—into a single transaction, creating a blueprint for future funding models.
Instead of the gantries associated with open-road tolling, this technology has a small roadside box that can cover five lanes, says JB Kendrick, president and CEO of Kapsch TrafficCom North America. “Over time, data can be exchanged between cars, intelligent message signs, emergency services clearances,” she said.
The project will be rolled out in phases, beginning with the installation of roadside units and testing with onboard unit-equipped vehicles. Subsequent phases will focus on integrating Vehicle-to-Everything toll data with NCTA’s host and back-office systems, with the ultimate goal of invoicing customers based on transactions generated directly by their vehicle.
Eventually, NCTA could use the data to predict when it needs to repave roads, redeck bridges or add new infrastructure, says Kendrik.