Oct 4, 2016
CLEVELAND – The Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (CRTA) is using a $2.7 million grant from the Federal Transit Administration (FTA), in cooperation with Battelle Memorial Institute, to develop and test technology that reduces pedestrian and vehicle collisions.
In an update to the RTA Board today, RTA officials said testing will begin on two programs in early 2017.
The two programs are The Enhanced Transit Safety Retrofit Package (E-TRP) and the Transit Bus Stop Pedestrian Warning (TSPW).
The E-TRP program uses:
- Vehicle-to-vehicle technology, which warns buses when another vehicle is driving up along the left side of a bus and turning right in front of it.
- Vehicle-to-Infrastructure technology, which helps prevent collisions with pedestrians in or near intersections and crosswalks.
TSPW alerts pedestrians when a bus is approaching or exiting a bus stop, and alerts bus operators of pedestrians at a transit stop.
Approximately 80-100 buses and 6-10 intersections will be chosen for testing.
“Bringing connected vehicle technology to public transit to protect pedestrians is becoming increasingly important,” said RTA CEO and General Manager Joe Calabrese.
“RTA has been at the forefront of enhanced vehicle safety technology since it created and implemented the ‘Talking Bus’ technology several years ago. The ‘Talking Bus’ has become the industry standard for customer and pedestrian safety nationwide.”
“Now, RTA is taking the next critical step in testing and using enhanced safety technology that will benefit both our customers and operators. We look forward to launching this initiative and to partner with Battelle on this important pilot program. Our success will likely be shared across the country among other transit systems."
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