CLEAN, Va. - Kapsch TrafficCom (Kapsch) announced that it has been selected by the city of Columbus, Ohio, to oversee the infrastructure integration of the city’s Smart Columbus Connected Vehicle Environment (CVE). The CVE is expected to enhance safety and mobility for vehicle operators and improve pedestrian safety in school zones by deploying connected vehicle (CV) infrastructure on the roadside and CV equipment in vehicles. The CVE will also provide sources of high-quality data for traffic management and safety purposes.

As the infrastructure prime contractor, Kapsch will supply its roadside unit (RSU) ITS Station 9160 (RIS-9160) at over 100 Columbus intersections to support vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) safety and mobility applications. The RIS-9160’s technology is scalable to allow for easy upgrades to device capabilities. In addition, the Kapsch Smart Cities Control Center (SC3) will be used to configure, monitor, and gather live data from the entire environment. This data will be integrated into the Smart Columbus network with the ultimate goal of improving mobility for local residents while improving the safety and efficiency of the transportation network.

The CVE project will integrate connected vehicles into the city’s transportation environment by installing in-vehicle and roadside technology, and by deploying CV applications that will enable enhanced safety and mobility features. The CVE will generate the transportation-related data that is needed by the connected vehicle applications. Kapsch will complete the RSU installation by February 2020, and monitor the status of the RSU network through the end of the demo period in March 2021. Partner subcontracters are Econolite, Path Master, and Danlaw.

The Connected Vehicle Environment (CVE) project is one of multiple transportation-related projects in the Smart Columbus program. Smart Columbus was founded in 2016 when the city of Columbus won the Smart City Challenge led by the United States Department of Transportation (USDOT). It serves as a model for other cities wishing to incorporate new technologies into their transportation networks. Through the program, Columbus shares lessons learned and best practices from integrating intelligent transportation systems (ITS) in order to increase transportation mobility, safety, and efficiency for its residents.

“As Columbus leads the way in defining what it means to be a smart city, Kapsch is proud to support their efforts with our ITS products and expertise,” said Chris Murray, president of Kapsch TrafficCom North America. “Kapsch systems are designed to foster connected mobility between people and data among highways and urban areas, and integrating the Columbus CV environment is an ideal application of our solutions.”