A To-Do List for the Incoming U.S. Transportation Secretary Strategy Analytics blog by Roger Lanctot: Speculation is already swirling around the newly-named U.S. Transportation Secretary to be, Elaine Choa (pictured below). Choa previously served as Deputy Secretary of Transportation under George H.W. Bush and is thought to prefer a light regulatory touch. Arriving in the wake of Secretary Anthony Foxx who has served 2.5 years and Ray LaHood who served 4.5 years, she finds the agency in the midst of a downward spiral toward the very light regulatory touch she is thought to prefer. LaHood was accused by some safety advocates of cutting backroom deals with car makers. Foxx’s term was characterized by voluntary programs (automatic emergency brake adoption) and guidelines (distracted driving mitigation, autonomous vehicles, security, privacy) lacking the force of laws or mandates. The softened approach of LaHood and Foxx reflected the lack of interest within the Obama administration and on Capitol Hill for more interventionist approaches to regulating the automotive industry which was writhing in the depths of bankruptcy when the current President took office. Unfortunately, this legislative and executive indifference coincided with a tidal wave of vehicle recalls and a whirlwind of technological disruption impacting vehicle electrification (Tesla) and autonomous driving (Alphabet). To top things off, the close of the Obama administration is bookmarked by an unexpected, protracted and so-far unexplained rise in highway fatalities. Legislators took advantage of industry slip-ups (Takata, GM, Toyota, VW) to publicly flog senior auto industry executives on C-SPAN while calling for various reforms regarding the sale and rental of cars with open recalls, to close vehicle security gaps and establish privacy guidelines. But there was more smoke than light amid all the press conferences and press releases. In the end, the underfunded and undermanned U.S. Department of Transportation has only one item pending on the agenda, which is the vehicle-to-vehicle mandate awaiting the signature of the President to commence the next phase of the V2V rule-making process. By now, expectations are that even with the President’s endorsement, the incoming administration might well reverse the decision. The arguments for a V2V mandate – primarily relating to collision avoidance – are matched by an array of arguments against include concerns such as security, privacy, spectrum efficacy, cost, and reliability. Capping the objections is the emergence, during the 10+ year V2V development history, of cellular-based LTE-V2V and 5G technology using the same wireless spectrum and capable of delivering the same solution. It is in this broad context that I offer the incoming Transportation Secretary my updated To-Do List – 2.5 years after I offered similar thoughts to outgoing Secretary Foxx. #1 – Mandate: Do Not Touch Your Phone While Driving. #2 – Mandate Car Companies to File Distraction Mitigation Plans. #3 – Endorse the Creation of a VIN-based Next of Kin Notification Database. #4 – Explore the Creation of a Vehicle Extraction Database. #5 – Restore Self-Certification to the Process of Allowing Public Testing of Self-Driving Vehicles. #6 – Initiate a Process for Mandating the Installation of V2V Modules on Commercial Vehicles in FMCSA Classes 6, 7, 8. DSRC is intended to save lives by ultimately enabling safer driving by creating a driving environment where cars communicate with each other and with infrastructure. The inability of the DOT to drive adoption of the technology in the large-volume passenger vehicle market segment has meant 16 years wasted while preserving usage of the 5.9GHz band for the auto and fleet industries. By now it is clear that the FCC has lost patience with the DOT and is threatening to open up that spectrum to unlicensed use – something the ITS community is strenuously fighting to prevent. Nothing would be more effective than to foster immediate adoption of DSRC for commercial fleet applications. A mandated adoption of DSRC in FMCSA Classes 6, 7, and 8 will create an immediate market for DSRC applications and stimulate adoption of DSRC technology in passenger cars as well. The rationale and use cases are too numerous to describe here, but the efficacy of such a strategy is manifest. This could be the last chance for standalone V2V technology, independent of the cellular network, to come to market in the U.S. #7 – Require the Installation of DSRC Modules on All Emergency and Service Vehicles. Service vehicles parked along highways are a routine hazard faced by drivers every day. No amount of cones, signs or lights can replace the power of a wireless beacon embedded in such vehicles warning off heedless drivers of passenger vehicles – night and day. #8 – Highlight Elements of Next Gen 911 Research Focused on the Acquisition of Crash Scene Information Including Text, Video, Data and Voice via Smartphones and Embedded Systems. With the rise in highway fatalities has come the need to apply big data analytics to crash investigations including everything from time of day and weather conditions to age of and vehicle type etc. The only way to mitigate the rise in highway fatalities is to gather more data and information gathered from the scenes of crash incidents will be decisive. #9 – Support Investment in Multi-modal Transportation Initiatives Emphasizing Public Transit and Carpooling/Ride Sharing. #10 – Set Specific Vision Zero Targets Along the Lines of CAFE
Published 12-09-16 |