ATSSA Signal May June 2020

American Traffic Safety Services Association 18 Innovation Planning for a connected-vehicle future Mike Schagrin, CAV program manager for McCain Inc. and an ATSSA member, agrees with ATSSA’s stance against the proposed spectrum reallocation, and has followed the issue closely through groups like AASHTO, ITS America, and others. Regardless of the FCC action, he believes connected and automated vehicles (CAVs) will be a big part of improving traffic safety in the future. As chair of ATSSA’s newly created Traffic Signals Committee, he and others on the committee are working to build awareness of CAV capabilities and a framework for how the U.S. can ready its roads infrastructure for CAV. “At the end of the day, something is going to settle out. There will be a CAV environment,” Schagrin said. “We are trying to create a programof work where we can help guide the industry moving forward in terms of how the deployments will work.” That includes working to define what it means for roads to be “CAV-ready,” and determining what technological upgrades infrastructure owners will need to make to support these vehicles. The committee met for the first time in January at ATSSA’s 50th Annual Convention & Traffic Expo in New Orleans. It also will work to identify policy tools, potential funding sources, and other solutions that can help agencies to better equip themselves for the CAV era.