Literature review on recent international activity in cooperative vehicle–highway automation systems.

Shladover, S.E. · 2012 · ROSA P / United States. Federal Highway Administration

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Summary

This literature review, authored by S.E. Shladover for the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), examines recent international developments in Cooperative Vehicle–Highway Automation Systems (CVHAS). The study was motivated by a need to update the U.S. transportation research community on global advancements, as U.S. interest in the field had waned while activity in Europe, Japan, and other industrialized nations increased. The review focuses on English-language publications from 2007 onward, specifically analyzing non-U.S. activities involving vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I), and infrastructure-to-vehicle (I2V) cooperation. It covers a spectrum of automation levels, from driver warnings and control assistance to partial and full automation, with a primary emphasis on programmatic issues such as project goals, deployment strategies, and institutional challenges rather than deep technical specifications. The methodology involved a comprehensive scan of professional journals, conference proceedings, technical reports, and websites. The review categorizes findings into automated transit, trucking, and passenger car applications, highlighting major initiatives sponsored by the European Commission and Japanese government ministries. Key European projects analyzed include CVIS, COOPERS, SAFESPOT, and their successors eCoMove and interactIVe, alongside national programs in Germany (AKTIV), France (Prédit), and the Netherlands. Japanese activities were segmented by ministry, including the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism’s Smartway program, the National Police Agency’s Driving Safety Support Systems, and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry’s Energy ITS project. Findings indicate that international CVHAS research is predominantly public-sector driven, with industry participation limited by concerns over proprietary information and the long deployment horizons of public infrastructure. A significant trend is the focus on traveler information and safety warnings rather than full automation, largely due to legal constraints such as the Vienna Convention on Road Traffic, which requires drivers to maintain control of their vehicles. In automated transit, Europe has led with projects like CyberCars and CityMobil, demonstrating low-speed automated vehicles in pedestrian zones and segregated guideways. Automated trucking research, notably the German KONVOI project and the European SARTRE project, demonstrated fuel savings through platooning but faced challenges with mixed traffic interference and cut-ins. For passenger cars, activity is concentrated on partial automation and cooperative adaptive cruise control (CACC), with limited progress toward fully autonomous driving due to regulatory and societal barriers. The significance of this review lies in its identification of the institutional and legal hurdles facing CVHAS deployment. It highlights that while technical capabilities for cooperative systems are advancing, non-technical issues such as certification, funding, and public perception remain critical bottlenecks. The review suggests that deployment opportunities will likely emerge first in controlled environments like transit systems and truck platoons before extending to private passenger vehicles. By documenting these international experiences, the report provides the U.S. research community with essential context for future development, emphasizing the need for coordinated public-private engagement and the adaptation of legal frameworks to support automated transportation technologies.

Key finding

The review identifies that international cooperative vehicle-highway automation research is dominated by public sector initiatives in Europe and Japan, with the most mature technologies applied to automated transit and truck platooning rather than private passenger vehicles.

Methodology

review

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• driverless ads
• v2x connected vehicle
• ehmi external hmi

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• Theoretical Contribution: conceptual framework