Connected vehicle technology and infrastructure being developed across three western states envisions a wider deployment of the technology both by states, and automakers.
Transportation departments in Utah, Colorado and Wyoming are part of a joint effort known as Connecting the West, which is deploying roadside infrastructure, in-vehicle technology and establishing a digital data-sharing platform to advance highway safety by communicating information to drivers. The project, which is being led by the Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT), is funded by a 2024 $20 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation.
“Our goal is reduce crashes, injuries and fatalities by providing information and warnings to drivers that can help them make better decisions,” Blaine Leonard, transportation technology engineer at UDOT, leading the planning and deployment of connected and automated vehicles, said during an Oct. 2 panel about the project. The panel was organized by ITS America.
The project is in Phase I, an 18-month period to design, build and test the vehicle-to-everything (V2X) system. This phase will wrap in March 2026, followed by Phase II, which will involve 12 months of operating the system and evaluating impacts.
Some of the information shared across V2X systems includes weather data, vehicle speeds and work zones. In cities, the data could include a heightened situational awareness at intersections where pedestrians, cyclists and other vulnerable road users are present. However, the impact of sharing this data, or using it to make operational decisions, is only as good as its ability to be communicated. And for now, most vehicles still lack the technology to communicate with roadside infrastructure. That’s where Connecting the West hopes to have an effect, Leonard said.
“As we talk about our relationship in V2X with the automobile [manufacturers] … we often refer to this as a chicken-and-egg problem,” Leonard said during the panel. “Who’s going to deploy first? Are the automakers going to put this technology on their cars first? Or, are those of us in the agencies going to put it on our roadsides first? I believe we’re the chicken. I believe we deploy first, and lay the egg.”
Utah has been developing its connected vehicle ecosystem for several years. Officials have already deployed 866 roadside units (RSUs) across the state, with about 750 of these at signalized intersections — accounting for about 50 percent of UDOT-operated signals, Leonard said, indicating 114 RSUs are along roadways. Meanwhile, the state has installed 527 onboard units on public-sector vehicles like buses, snowplows, and fleet and emergency vehicles. These devices gather information about roadways, and communicate with signals for green light priority. UDOT’s V2X system is generating some 2.5 billion data points a week, officials said.
Transportation officials in Wyoming have been working with their counterparts in Utah and Colorado to fine-tune some of the traveler information messages — those messages that would pop up in the vehicle offering alerts or other information. These messages have to be standardized around the semantics they use, and when and how they are shared with third parties, among other concerns, said Vince Garcia, manager of the intelligent transportation systems and GIS systems programs at the Wyoming Department of Transportation.
“The key to all deployments of connected vehicle technology is interoperability,” Garcia said during the panel, noting the data in question is placed in a “situational data exchange,” where it can be easily shared with other transportation departments, and third parties like Google or Waze.
“When it’s all said and done, we want to make sure all of our information is available across the state to third-party providers,” Garcia said. “And we’ll continue deploying connected vehicle equipment.”
As part of the project’s next steps, Utah will outfit 450 more intersections with roadside units, which will place more than 80 percent of state-owned signals within the connected vehicle ecosystem. The state will add another 150 to 200 RSUs along the interstate and other rural corridors. And Colorado will deploy another 50 RSUs, to complete the coverage on Interstate 70 from Vail to near the Utah-Colorado border.
These projects, spread across the three states, will yield a 1,200-mile continuous freeway loop with RSUs, officials said.
Officials are also working with General Motors to have a GM vehicle equipped with its connected technology, and Utah’s connected vehicle tech as well, available to be used for testing across the three states.
Improved safety remains the North Star for Connecting the West, Leonard said.
“And just like a physical seat belt keeps me safer when I’m involved in some kind of crash or incident, the V2X digital seat belt provides me, potentially, information that I can use to prevent some of those crashes,” he said. “It can tell me things I can’t see yet. And help me make those decisions.”
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