The secret to avoiding red lights during rush hour in Salt Lake City may be as simple as that: follow the bus. Over the past few years, transportation officials have been perfecting a system in which commuter buses communicate directly with traffic lights, asking for a few more seconds of green light as they approach.

This smart street technology has already made a noticeable difference by easing traffic congestion. And that’s just a glimpse of what could soon be on the roads of Utah and eventually the United States.

Smart cars that communicate

With the help of a $20 million federal grant and Connect the West’s broader vision, the ultimate goal is for vehicles in Utah, Colorado and Wyoming to be able to communicate not only with each other, but also with roadside infrastructure.

The smart vehicle system would share real-time information about traffic jams, accidents, hazards and weather conditions. Drivers could receive instant updates suggesting alternative routes without the need for human intervention, such as manually updating road signs or smartphone navigation apps.

“A vehicle can tell us a lot about what’s happening on the roadway,” says Blaine Leonard, a transportation technology engineer with the Utah Department of Transportation.

“Maybe the brakes are hard, the wipers are working, or the wheels are slipping. The car sends us this short data anonymously 10 times a second, giving us a constant flow of information.”

Smart cars transmit data in real time

When cars transmit such data in real time to other cars and roadside sensors, the technology is called vehicle-to-vehicle, or V2X. Last month, the U.S. Department of Transportation released a national plan to guide states, local governments, and private companies in implementing V2X projects, ensuring everyone is working together to achieve the same goals.

The fundamental goal of V2X is simple but crucial: to significantly reduce road deaths and serious injuries, which have reached alarming levels in recent years.

V2X technology could help save lives, according to a 2016 analysis by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The study found that implementing just two early V2X programs nationwide could have prevented 439,000 to 615,000 crashes and saved 987 to 1,366 lives.

Promoting road safety

Dan Langenkamp, ​​whose wife, US diplomat Sarah Langenkamp, ​​died while cycling in Maryland in 2022, has become a passionate advocate for improving road safety. Speaking at a press conference where the V2X project was presented, he called for the technology to be rapidly deployed in the US.

“How can we fail to advance this technology as quickly as we can, knowing that we as government officials, manufacturers and Americans have the power to save ourselves from this disaster, this crisis on our roads?” Langenkamp said.

Privacy issues related to transportation technologies

Despite its potential benefits, V2X has faced some public resistance, particularly around privacy. While the V2X plan includes measures to protect personal data, privacy advocates remain cautious.

Critics say that even if the system cannot track individual vehicles directly, it collects enough unique data, such as tire pressure or vehicle weight, that it could potentially be used to identify drivers and track their movements.

“If you get enough unique information, you can reasonably say that a car of that particular weight class that was driving down that street at that time probably belonged to the mayor,” said Cliff Brown, deputy director of technology, policy and research at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, an organization that advocates for digital privacy.

The National V2X Development Plan projects that by 2028, the 75 largest U.S. metropolitan areas will have at least 25% of their controlled traffic intersections equipped with the technology, with even higher numbers to come in the coming years. Salt Lake City, already a leader in V2X adoption, has surpassed 20%.

The benefits of connected vehicle technology

Modernizing traffic light signals to communicate with vehicles is only part of the task. More important data comes from the vehicles themselves. While many new cars are equipped with connectivity features, not all operate to the same standards.

Utah has begun testing connected-car technology with data from fleets like buses and snowplows, launching what it calls the nation’s first radio-connected vehicle system. One pilot program focused on a busy stretch of Redwood Road, where traffic flow improved for all drivers, not just buses.

“Whatever they’re doing, it’s working,” said Jenny Duenas, assistant director of Panda Daycare near Redwood Road. “We haven’t seen any traffic in a while. We need to get our kids out of here so it’s a lot easier to get out of the preschool when it’s freer.”

Reducing traffic congestion and increasing safety

Casey Brock, Utah Department of Transportation’s bus communications chief, said most drivers may not notice the changes directly, but the improvements are significant. Even cutting a route by a few seconds can reduce congestion and improve safety.

“From a commuter’s perspective, it might be, ‘Oh, I had a good day in traffic,'” Brock said. “They don’t have to know all the mechanics behind the scenes.”

The future of smart cars

The push for smart roads extends beyond Utah. In Michigan, a 3-mile stretch of connected, automated transportation infrastructure has launched along Interstate 94 between Ann Arbor and Detroit. The project uses sensors and cameras to provide real-time alerts of obstacles such as debris or stalled vehicles.

A similar project in Texas is developing a smart freight corridor near Austin to provide truck drivers with information about road conditions and eventually support driverless trucks. Darran Anderson, director of strategy and innovation for the Texas Department of Transportation, sees the technology as key to improving safety in the state’s vast trucking industry.

Daily road deaths for decades

Texas has had traffic fatalities every day for more than two decades, and the last day without fatalities was November 7, 2000. Cavnue, a subsidiary of Alphabet’s Pavement Infrastructure Partners, is leading efforts to become leaders in smart pavement technology in Michigan and Texas.

Chris Armstrong, the company’s vice president of products, likens V2X to a “digital seatbelt for a car,” but stresses that its effectiveness depends on seamless communication between cars and roadside infrastructure.

“Instead of speaking 50 different languages, we want to speak one language right away,” Armstrong said.

The future of smart cars may be closer than we think, and the roads of tomorrow could be safer, smoother, and more connected than ever before.