I used to work within the field of DOT technology (not for the DOT itself). I forget the exact project name, but this has been in the works since around 2008 and has gone through several revisions (in a relatively closed, "secret" committee sort of process).
Their main goal is to have infrastructure actually coordinate traffic (alluded to the Vehicle-to-Infrastructure proposal). This will allow the DOT to fine tune traffic controls to reduce general commute times while providing nifty features such as allowing emergency vehicles to pass seamlessly through intersections, as well as make evacuation orders go smoothly (directing certain groups of traffic to alternate routes, etc). Of course who could forget the draconian hypothetical of allowing the government to stop your car randomly (of which they already can through more violent means). The vehicle to vehicle communication proposal is just a step towards the vehicle to infrastructure end goal, as you need cars to be able to pass along messages to each other in a kind of "mesh" network fashion.
Judging by the looks of things, they haven't really come that far. It still seems very abstract. Which is kind of disappointing, because from a tech perspective I'd like to see how things end up working out. It's been "forthcoming" for years. Of course the auto-industry wants nothing to do with it and last I heard they were doing everything they can to stop this from moving forward.
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Judging by the looks of things, they haven't really come that far. It still seems very abstract. Which is kind of disappointing, because from a tech perspective I'd like to see how things end up working out. It's been "forthcoming" for years. Of course the auto-industry wants nothing to do with it and last I heard they were doing everything they can to stop this from moving forward.