Statement On U.S. Circuit Court Decision Regarding 5.9 GHz Spectrum

ITS America President & CEO Laura Chace, ASHTO Executive Director Jim Tymon React to Court Decision

Statements & Press ReleasesAugust 12, 2022

Today’s court decision rejecting ITS America and AASHTO’s appeal to the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) decision reallocating a majority of the 5.9 GHz spectrum is a blow to transportation safety for all Americans. At a time when roadway deaths are at an all-time high, our efforts to preserve the entire 75 MHz spectrum for connected vehicle safety solutions demonstrate the industry’s commitment to saving lives. Transportation safety stakeholders are overwhelmingly unified in opposition to the FCC’s ruling. We are disappointed and frustrated that the FCC and the Court disregarded our collective expertise and feedback, ignoring the importance of transportation safety and ignoring the importance of using these technologies to stop the public health emergency on our nation’s roadways. The FCC instead continued to prioritize economic interests over public safety.

Despite this disappointing ruling, we will continue our efforts to ensure the remaining 30 MHz is free from dangerous interference and advances transportation safety. In addition, ITS America’s Future of V2X Working Group has been working actively for months to determine strategies to effectively deploy lifesaving Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) technologies under a new paradigm.

AASHTO has also been working with its members to further the readiness, deployment, and integration of V2X technologies on public roadways. Connected vehicle technology and automated transportation solutions will continue to be critical tools to assist the transportation industry in achieving our goal to eliminate all traffic fatalities and severe injuries while increasing safe, healthy, equitable mobility for all.

ITS America, AASHTO, and our members continue to envision and explore the future of connectivity and the needs of our transportation system as technology advances. Accordingly, we call on the FCC to allocate an additional spectrum for advanced V2X communications, which the FCC told the Court it would consider during oral arguments earlier this year.

As fatalities on U.S. roadways continue to increase, we must use all available tools – including connected vehicles, automation, and other mobility technologies – to reverse this devastating trend.

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Technology evolves faster than we can imagine the future. Rapidly evolving transportation innovations are being developed and deployed that promise to entirely reshape the way our transportation network operates, facilitating vast improvements to transportation safety and overall mobility. The promise of these innovations is apparent, but the deployment and application of these technologies is not without challenges. While technology disrupts the transportation ecosystem with new innovations and ideas, government, communities, private companies, and researchers must race to catch up to and contend with ideas never thought possible. How do we accelerate change and safely embrace new technology while promoting collaboration across industry to advance shared societal goals? Through nonprofits like the Intelligent Transportation Society of America (ITS America).

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Ramin Massoumi, Global Solutions Director – Mobility, arcadis
Private companies, public agencies and academic institutions committed to influencing the future of intelligent transportation come together at ITS America. Every day, our members advance technology solutions that save lives and improve mobility across the country – in cities, suburbs, and rural communities.
Malcolm Dougherty, National Practice Executive, Transportation, Michael Baker International
At ITS America, our public, private and academic sector members are committed to deploying intelligent transportation technologies to save lives and improve mobility on our nation’s roads. While transportation constantly evolves, we will do all we can to ensure it continues to be the engine that drives our nation’s economy and contributes to improving our quality of life.
Carlos Braceras, Director, Utah Department of Transportation