The Utah Department of Transportation is installing vehicle-to-everything or V2X technology in 100 more snowplows this year to boost the efficiency of its winter road-clearing operations.
[Above photo by Utah DOT]
“In the long run, this technology is meant to save lives,” stressed Blaine Leonard, longtime transportation technology engineer for Utah DOT, in a statement. “[It will be] able to give the driver of a vehicle information about what’s going on and be able to prevent crashes.”
He noted that the agency has been experimenting with V2X technology since 2015 and currently uses it along several snowplow routes in Salt Lake and Utah counties.
Utah DOT pointed out that this effort will install V2X “boxes” comprised of wireless sensors that will connect snowplows to the surrounding infrastructure; allowing them to communicate with one another.
Through that communication channel, the technology can send a variety of messages, including “transit signal preemption” that extends traffic signal “green times” and even changes the light from red to green to allow snowplows to keep operating without stopping.
[Editor’s note: Testing V2X components to ensure they function properly requires a lot of work as well. The video below explains the V2X testing process used by the Wyoming Department of Transportation.]
In the future, the agency said that V2X technology will be able to send safety messages to drivers, such as warnings about work zones, road conditions, or sharp curves.
“Preemption makes a night-and-day difference in our job,” explained Brian Sommer, a snowplow operator at Utah DOT’s Provo/Orem maintenance station. “If traffic is stopped, we’re stopped. And the roads stay worse the longer we’re in traffic.”
The agency noted that keeping snowplows moving not only increases efficiency but also makes it safer for everyone using the roads. Having to stop suddenly at a red light on slick roads is difficult for snowplows and drivers and may delay progress on clearing the roads. But with transit signal preemption, everyone driving near a plow has more time to make safe driving decisions.
“The safety aspect of it – being able to flow through an intersection without impeding traffic – has been great,” noted Chad Gasser, Utah DOT’s Provo/Orem station supervisor. “It’s making it safer for us, the public and commuters.”
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