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(words whooshing)

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- [Narrator] When an
accident or emergency occurs,

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first responders must
move quickly and safely.

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So it's important for
drivers to be aware of,

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and accommodate emergency vehicles

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that are traveling to an incident.

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TxDOT and researchers at the

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Texas A&M Transportation Institute

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are exploring a way to improve
driver awareness, safety,

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and emergency response time

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using connected vehicle technology.

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- Starting through the project,

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we went to talk to the fire department,

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one of our fire department,

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and just so happened
that the weekend before,

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Fire Chief got T-boned by a driver

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because even though he's
running all his lights on,

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but driver wasn't pay attention to the,

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he just pay attention to signal,

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because the chief running a red.

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So the driver just T-boned into Chief.

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- We all have the experience

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that when we stop at a red
light at a intersection,

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we hear a siren,

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but we don't know where
the emergency vehicle

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is coming from.

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So with the advancement of CV technology,

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the connected vehicle technology,

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we've got an opportunity
to improve the situation.

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So in this project,

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we probed into the
feasibility of leveraging

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the CV technology,

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improving our emergency
response performance.

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- With connected vehicle,

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we are allowed to send out
message to oncoming vehicle.

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So when there's a preemption
occurring at the intersection,

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every vehicle within the geofencing

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will receive a message in
there, either through a app,

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or maybe some of these without it,

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they already have a built-in system

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into the vehicle already,

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so they can receive that information.

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- The project is based in Houston.

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And we've got support from
the TxDOT Houston district

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and the Houston TranStar here.

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They provided us with
valuable technical advice

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and they provided assistance

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for us to test the system in the field.

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So our TTI folks from multiple
programs worked together

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in designing, developing, and
testing the prototype systems.

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And then our TTI has
this amazing facility,

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the Smart Intersection
at the RELLIS campus.

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It has a fully functioning,

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a signalized intersection
and the wrong way.

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It's a perfect location for
us to test our systems there

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to verify the functionality
of the V2X messages.

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After that, we tested the
system at field locations

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in Houston under real traffic condition.

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- One of the key takeaway of this project

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is that we're not here to change

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existing current operating system.

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The operating equipment that
they're using right now.

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We're just adding one
more piece of equipment

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into a vehicle.

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So basically, there's no change
in the current operation.

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We just add one more piece
of equipment in there

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where we standardize for entire,
basically in theory, right?

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We could come up in theory,

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standardize for entire United States.

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- The technology allows
pretty good interoperability

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between devices from different vendors.

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It's very possible we can implement

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a standardized preemption system

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across multiple jurisdictions
with a minimum cost.

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So we believe that will be very beneficial

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for emergency response
process in the region,

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in a large region, like
the greater Houston area.

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- [Narrator] For more information

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and to find the publications
for this project,

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please visit the TxDOT research library

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at the link shown below.