A Transit Signal Control and Communication System Using IEEE 802.11(p)/1609 Radios

Convenience-related non-safety applications are interesting and enticing aspects of VANETs, with a number of public non-safety services such as Transit Signal Priority (TSP) and bus group communication systems (e.g. voice/video) expected to be developed for public transportation. In this paper, we design and implement a Transit Signal Control and Communication System (TSCCS) for use in real-life IEEE 802.11p/1609 On-Board Units (OBUs). As this TSCCS can reduce bus travel time and number of stops by employing a transit signal priority algorithm, a reduction in bus travel times can be achieved by proper use of traffic lights. The TSCCS can also track bus group members´ current locations and broadcast voice/video amongst a cruising vehicle group, enhancing driver and rider experience. The performance of the developed TSCCS was evaluated in field trials. Our initial experiment results profile the performance of the TSCCS in a small-scale real-life network, with heuristics for designing a large-scale vehicular application then suggested. The data presented here may provide a basic understanding for future advanced studies in this area.