Towards a connected bicycle to communicate with vehicles and infrastructure : Multimodel alerting interface with Networked Short-Range Transmissions (MAIN-ST)

The Connected Vehicles program is a multimodal US Department of Transportation (USDOT) initiative that enables safer, smarter, and greener surface transportation using dedicated wireless communication technology. Although significant efforts are being made to bring motor vehicles and transportation infrastructure onto this connected network, bicycles have been largely overlooked. Bringing cyclists onto this network will enable other connected vehicles and infrastructure to be aware of their presence, and allow cyclists to take advantage of the safety and transportation benefits of receiving information from other connected entities. To connect bicycles, we are designing a prototype Multimodal Alerting Interface with Networked Short-Range Transmissions (MAIN-ST). MAIN-ST brings cyclists onto the vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) networks to enable a suite of safe cycling capabilities. This paper describes our progress accomplished over a 6-month period, and documents the feasibility of the MAIN-ST technology approach.