SRF has collaborated with the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) on managing and developing their connected vehicle (CV) program. Our work has included a broad range of responsibilities from stakeholder engagement and proposal writing to needs assessments and high-level systems engineering.
SRF developed several proposals on behalf of MnDOT for securing federal funding for CV deployments. We led an extensive public outreach effort and met with public and private industry stakeholders to gather input on needs and interests for CV deployments in Minnesota. With these concepts in hand, SRF worked with MnDOT and key CV stakeholders to prioritize the applications. Potential deployments were evaluated based on their cost, ease of implementation, and, most importantly, the needs they fulfill. From this effort, the safety and efficiency of snow and ice operations emerged as a dominant theme.
SRF then worked with MnDOT to identify potential CV applications that could improve snow and ice operations while capitalizing on MnDOT’s existing ITS infrastructure and previous experience with snow plows. To reduce the amount of time plows spend waiting at traffic signals and ramp meters, a signal priority system using Dedicated Short Range Communications (DSRC) was developed and ideal test corridors were identified. Plows request early or extended green phases from traffic signals using DSRC, reducing the time a plow will have to stop. The signal priority system also assists freeway gang plowing operations by providing the right-most plow priority at traffic signals and ramp meters. Signal priority significantly improves the efficiency of gang plowing operations by keeping the plow formation together.
SRF continues to provide program management services as MnDOT begins prototyping, designing, and deploying their first CV applications. Our extensive ITS technical knowledge and experience has aided MnDOT in the deployment of CV systems.
