A new report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) says that the Department of Transportation (DOT) needs to share more information on its connected vehicle (CV) technology strategy with stakeholders especially in light of actions by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in 2020 to reduce the availability of radio spectrum dedicated to CV applications.
DOT is developing its strategy to accommodate for the reduced availability of spectrum, but GAO said stakeholders need to know more about it “to help transportation stakeholders plan their technology investments.”
“The Secretary of Transportation should share additional information about the Department’s strategy to support the future deployment of connected vehicle technologies under the new spectrum rules,” the new report says.
DoT agreed with GAO’s recommendation to share more information about its strategy. The recommendation includes a suggestion that additional information could include “for example, how the spectrum changes could influence DOT’s grant funds that state and local transportation agencies have used to pursue connected vehicle projects.”
The report reflects feedback that GAO gathered through numerous interviews with government and private-sector stakeholders in the CV field.
“GAO reviewed documents and interviewed agency officials including from DOT and FCC and interviewed a non-generalizable sample of 40 stakeholders. Our sample included 23 transportation stakeholders and seven wireless industry stakeholders,” the report says. Those interviews focused on two questions:
- DOT’s efforts to facilitate the deployment of connected vehicle technologies; and
- How DOT is addressing challenges to the further deployment of connected vehicle technologies.
“As DOT continues this testing and forms its strategy for the further development and deployment of CV technologies under the new spectrum rules, it will be important for the Department to continue to engage transportation stakeholders and to address their key concerns, such as how the spectrum rule changes will influence DOT grant funds for CV applications,” the report says.
