This research is funded by iMOVE CRC and supported by the Cooperative Research Centres program, an Australian Government initiative. ITS Australia led this project with research partner The University of Melbourne to better understand how connectivity and intelligent transport systems can improve safety and productivity outcomes for our communities and networks.

PROJECT BACKGROUND

There are currently few vehicles in Australia that are optimized for connectivity or equipped with Co-operative Intelligent Transport Systems (C-ITS). The potential safety benefits from new connected vehicles are unlikely to be realised in the immediate future in Australia due to the age of our fleet and the limited connectivity of new vehicles.

Vehicles arriving with C-ITS technology are likely to land in Australia with a mix of connective technologies, calling for a new set of interoperability standards to guarantee the intended communication and cooperation.

Australasia’s authority on vehicle safety, ANCAP undertook an analysis of the Australian registered light vehicle fleet revealing:

• older vehicles are over-represented in fatal vehicle crashes, and
• the average age of a vehicle involved in a fatal crash is increasing.

Across 2015, 2016 and 2017, the average age of registered vehicles in Australia (passenger vehicles and SUVs) remained constant at 9.8 years, yet:

• In 2015, the average age of a vehicle involved in a fatal crash was 12.5 years.
• In 2016, the average age of a vehicle involved in a fatal crash was 12.9 years.
• In 2017, the average age of a vehicle involved in a fatal crash was 13.1 years.

The oldest vehicles (those built 2001 or earlier) account for 20% of the fleet but are involved in 36% of fatalities. In contrast, the newest vehicles (those built 2012-2017) account for 31% of the fleet but are involved in just 12% of fatalities.

The rate of fatal crashes per registered vehicle for the oldest vehicles is four (4) times higher than that of the newest vehicles.

Connected vehicles can increase safety and network efficiency outcomes.

In urban environments increased connectivity of vehicles could enable improved network productivity and offer safety benefits for all road users. In rural and regional contexts, safety and productivity improvements result in social equity and accessibility benefits.

There is a mix of technology and levels of connectivity required and range of use cases to consider for optimal outcomes. An evidence base is needed to better understand the options that can offer the most effective safety and efficiency benefits on Australia roads.

There is a potential to increase the number of compatible connected vehicles within the Australian over the next decade through the fitting of after-market devices and/or increasing the demand of consumers for connectivity to be enabled in new vehicles arriving in Australia. An increase in connected vehicles is likely to lead to improved road safety outcomes for the community.

ANCAP Safety modelling on road death projection estimated that with an increasing population and no changes to current road death rates over the next five years, around 6,000 lives will be lost on Australia’s roads.

Even during the COVID 19 travel restrictions while there have been reduced vehicles on the network no reduction in crashes has been recorded, in fact we've seen an increase in road trauma with some drivers travelling at higher speeds.

AAA research found that in 2018–19, congestion costs are expected to exceed $23 billion, which will be more than the value of all road-related expenditure. Congestion costs are projected to reach between $30.6 and $41.2 billion by 2030 .

Safety and congestion are two of the key challenges on our networks and there is strong potential for connectivity and C-ITS to improve these vital problems.

FINDINGS

Increasing the uptake of road safety technology was a key recommendation of the 2018 National Road Safety Strategy Inquiry report, with joint commitment to support the recommendation through the Road Safety Working Group’s Implementation Plan.

There is a strong commitment across all levels of government to improve safety outcomes on our roads. Governments are progressing standards to support the deployment of technology such as Autonomous Emergency Braking, along with broad improvements in crash protection.

The Cooperative Intelligent Transport Systems (C‐ITS) combine information technology and mobile communication to enable data and command transmissions between vehicles, roadside infrastructure and a central management systems, in order to improve roadway safety for all users, as well as traffic flow efficiency in the network.

The recent technological advancements in vehicle‐to‐vehicle and vehicle‐to‐infrastructure communications (vehicle connectivity, in general), wireless sensors, video analytics, artificial intelligence, edge computing and IoT can support and accelerate cooperative transport systems for Australian cities. However, the potential safety and efficiency benefits from connected vehicles are unlikely to be realised in the immediate future in Australia due to the age of our fleet and the limited connectivity of new vehicles.

There is a potential to increase the number of compatible connected vehicles within the Australian fleet over the next decade through the fitting of after‐market devices and/or increasing the demand of consumers for connectivity to be enabled in new vehicles arriving in Australia.

Technology which allows C-ITS communications to occur must be made available within user vehicles. This can be achieved through retrofitting the existing fleet with technology capable of providing the required communications or provided by original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). The following distinctions are made between aftermarket (retrofitted) and OEM (machine integrated) solutions:

• Aftermarket solution: aftermarket equipment may allow V2V, V2I or V2X communications via DSRC and/or C-V2X. The equipment is retrofitted into an existing vehicle or operated independently from the vehicle’s controller network.
• OEM solution: communication equipment (DSRC, C-V2X, or both) is integrated into vehicles during production and integrated to the newly produced vehicle’s controller network. This type of device is capable of providing highly accurate information using the in-vehicle information to generate basic safety messages (BSMs).
• Some alternative aftermarket applications which operate outside of the C-ITS environment through smart phone applications such as “Addinsight” (Adelaide) and “Speed Advisor” (Transport for New South Wales) are also being developed to deliver awareness messaging and improve safety outcomes for users.

There are numerous use cases for connected vehicles which have been trialled and simulated by government endorsed agencies, industry, and in academia. These trials aim to test and demonstrate the safety, environmental, and mobility benefits which CVs can provide and include large pilots such as CAVI operated by Queensland Transport & Main Roads and CITI by Transport for NSW.

Reviewing these pilots and others internationally and analysing road accident data including vehicles, geography, accident type and people identified four use cases indicating the potential for connected technologies to provide real safety benefits:

Curve Speed Warning - CSW

Cooperative Forward Collision Warning - CFCW

Intersection Movement Assist - IMA

Right Turn Assist - RTA

In regional and small cities and towns almost 25% of accidents could potentially be mitigated through reduction of speeds on curves (Curve Speed Warning) and in urban environments near 25% of accidents could benefit from reducing ‘fender benders' through applications of Cooperative Forward Collision Warning (CFCW).

Vulnerable road users, particularly pedestrians, are over-represented in fatal and serious injury crashes

Targeted CITS implementation can lead to investment efficiency for crash reduction

• By region type (metro, small cities, rural)
• By mode (car, trucks, motorcycles, bikes/scooters, etc.)

Pedestrians are over-represented in fatal crashes and none of the major 4 use cases (typically considered for CITS) address pedestrians safety.

There is potential Intersection Movement Assist (IMA) Right Turn Assist (RTA) could be extended / investigated to include hold the red for pedestrians; further investigation would be useful to see if this will support a reduction in pedestrian involved crashes in urban environments.

Drivers and passengers benefit the most from Cooperative Forward Collision Warning and intersection Movement Assists

Bicyclists and scooters accidents will benefit mainly from Intersection Movement Assist and Right Turn Assist

Motorcyclists benefits the most from Curve Speed Warning

Pedestrians are not addressed by the 4 major uses. Use cases are also not very effective in CBDs where pedestrians incidents are prevalent.

INSIGHTS

Curve speed warning

• Able to be deployed without any improvement to existing fleet
• Curve speed warning could be expected to have a significant impact on fatalities and series injuries across our rural communities.
• Could see significant benefit to motorcyclists (17% of crashes)
• There is need to consider suitable HMI for motorcyclists
• Maintenance and digital publication of road speed data would need to be considered

Cooperative Forward Collision Warning

The next generation of C-V2X technology (3GPP Release 15 and Release 16) will encompass the 5G radio interface known as 5G New Radio (NR).

This project was led by Stacey Ryan Policy Manager and Susan Harris CEO at ITS Australia and we would like to particularly acknowledge the support and effort from our research partners Neema Nassir, Patricia Lavieri, Majid Sarvi and Peter Sweatman at The Univesity of Melbourne and project partners Sally Todd from DITC&RD, Russell Brett from IAG, David McKeon from Intelematics, and David Apelt from Transmax.

For more information on this project please contact stacey.ryan@its-australia.com.au