On December 19, 2018, the U.S. Department of Transportation announced that it is seeking public comment on the use and integration of Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) communications technologies into the transportation environment. In the announcement, DOT states that it intends to maintain the priority use of 5.9Ghz spectrum for transportation safety communications.
Notwithstanding DOT’s intention to maintain the priority use of 5.9 Ghz spectrum for transportation safety communication, the notice discusses the fact that there have been some new developments in core aspects of communications technologies that could further support V2X in addition to DSRC (e.g., cellular-V2X (C-V2X), 5G communications, etc.). The notice requests comment on current and future communications technologies that could be associated with the connected vehicle environment, and how these developments affect both V2X deployment and DOT’s role in encouraging the integration of V2X into the transportation environment. In particular, the Department wants to hear from stakeholders whether focusing on DSRC as the primary means of V2V communications is consistent with recent technological developments, as well as with the Department’s general desire to remain technologically neutral and avoid interfering with the many innovations in transportation and telecommunication technologies. If technological developments support the use of alternatives to DSRC, the Department would also need to know how to ensure that these alternative technologies are interoperable with each other and DSRC.
Comments must be received by Jan. 25, 2018.
An advance copy version of the RFC can be found at https://www.transportation.gov/sites/dot.gov/files/docs/policy-initiatives/automated-vehicles/327941/usdot-v2x-rfc.pdf.
DOT contact: Sujeesh Kurup (202-366-9953) for policy issues or Timothy Mullins (202-366-9038) for legal issues.
Docket reference: DOT-OST-2018-0210