Traffic Manager

Connected vehicles have a lot to say. Equipped cars broadcast basic safety messages (BSMs) 10 times each second. That wealth of data is what the Cirrus by Panasonic Traffic Manager module was designed to collect, process, analyze and store. Secure and private by design, BSMs provided by connected vehicles can tell operators a great deal about the roadway environment affecting the driving public or DOT fleets and equip TMC operators with the information they need to react quickly to real-time circumstances. Through Cirrus’s massively scalable cloud architecture, BSMs are ingested, processed to identify and generate events, and securely stored for later analysis, historical reporting, sharing or other system needs.

Part of the potential for V2X systems is the bidirectional nature of data and message broadcast. Traveler Information Messages (TIMs) can be broadcast from RSUs to connected vehicles to share critical information with drivers. Many of these messages can be automated to reduce the workload of transportation operators. There are a variety of TIMs including a wide range of safety notifications such as weather impact warnings relevant to a localized area, upcoming work zones notifications, recommend curve speed, real time alerts notifying drivers of a vulnerable road user in a crosswalk, or a critical first responder message letting a fire truck know a different vehicle has priority at an upcoming traffic signal. 

The Cirrus platform provides users with a complete workflow for TIM development and broadcasting. From ingesting necessary event data, to creating the TIM itself, to automatic RSU publishing, Cirrus is the end-to-end system for CV roadway safety.

Leveraging the connected vehicle standards for vehicle probe data, freight specific use cases benefit from BSM-like messages suited to the needs of commercial and large-vehicle types. Data elements like tire pressure monitoring, vehicle weight, engine characteristics and more allow the V2X ecosystem to support advanced fleet operations both on the road and at depots or trip-endpoints. These features provide DOTs and fleet operators with unique tools to enhance logistics operations with smart mobility functionality.

BSMs tell us a great deal about the roadway environment. By combining various message elements, Cirrus can infer important safety information from limited vehicle deployments. For example, a vehicle reporting that its windshield wipers are active while the ambient air temperature is below 32 degrees suggests that it may be snowing along that segment of roadway. This kind of spot weather analysis can help roadway operators better allocate resources such as snowplows and salt trucks, setup changeable message signs or TIMs to warn drivers, close some roadways, or take other responsive actions necessary to help keep drivers safe. This is just one example of the power of big data analytics on connected vehicle data (much of it in near real time). 

By combining CV data with data from other intelligent transportation systems. such as the RWIS weather API, these analytics capabilities can be further expanded over time. Data can also be shared out from the Cirrus platform to other systems such as existing traffic signal central systems, traveler 511 notification mechanisms, or to various fleets to inform routing.

Connected Vehicle traffic applications include services like (not an exhaustive list):

• Wrong way driving
• Spot weather
  • Rain
  • Snow
  • Wind
  • Icy Roads
• Crash detection
• Hard breaking
• Curve speed management
• Work zone management
• Back of queue monitoring
• Variable speed limit management
• Pavement quality
• VRU detection/warnings