Executive Summary

In April 2017, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) challenged each state and local government to participate in its SPaT Challenge, working together to deploy vehicle to infrastructure (V2I) connection technologies. The North Carolina Department of Transportation accepted the SPaT Challenge and selected the Town of Cary’s traffic signal system. The selection process was attributed to our state of the art facility, a highly reliable fiber optic communications network and Centracs, an advanced traffic management software.  Additionally, Cary’s traffic signal system provided the best infrastructure for successful deployment of our existing connected vehicle technology.

Background

What is SPaT Challenge and its significance?  

Traffic signals currently have the capability to share critical signal phasing and timing (SPaT) when the vehicles are approaching as demonstrated in the Connected Vehicle Platform know as Glance. In the future, SPaT will pave the way for autonomous vehicle technologies and direct communication with roadway infrastructure.