Traditional and third-party data service cost comparisons show that estimated 10 year probe based costs average $7,650

Researchers identify costs for connected vehicle field infrastructure deployment and related costs in the United States

Made Public Date
10/22/2014
Identifier
2014-SC00327
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Summary Information

The USDOT in partnership with Transport Canada, AASHTO and in cooperation with other nationwide stakeholders, conducted analyses leading to a preliminary general concept of a national Connected Vehicle (CV) field infrastructure footprint. The footprint includes a general description for a proposed national deployment of vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) technology including, applications, communications and deployment locations. The purpose of the National CV Field Infrastructure Footprint Analysis is to provide a vision for a fully deployed infrastructure footprint, to identify the activities and project timelines needed to achieve that footprint, and to estimate costs associated with the deployment.

The following information outlines the cost estimates associated with the procurement of third-party traffic data to support connected vehicle applications. Third-party vendors such as HERE (formerly known as NAVTEQ) and INRIX have deployed data collection equipment and monitor mobile-based traffic data sources to cover a much larger portion of the national road network than state and local governments are currently monitoring. Access to these data sources provides rich speed and travel time data, as well as incident, construction, road closure and weather information. Additionally, these sources have implemented quality assurance to meet the Real-Time System Management Information Program (RTSMIP) requirements, including data reporting in 20 minutes or less with 85 percent accuracy and 90 percent availability.

Additionally, other providers are emerging in this market with consumer-focused traffic data applications. These include Google and Apple, who have implemented real-time traffic information into their mapping systems based on data collected from users of the system. For example, the license agreement for Google Maps permits Google to collect data from users’ cell phones for this purpose.

Purchasing data from these service providers allows a state or local agency to quickly collect basic traffic data—speed, volume, travel time—on the majority of the major roads in their area. While the data are somewhat limited (volumes and turning counts, for example, are not available), the accuracy and quantity of the data over a large area permits agency users to quickly develop applications for their internal use. The Michigan DOT, for example, uses data from HERE to display travel times on dynamic message signs across the state. Adding this information to new signs as they are deployed is a relatively simple process since all of the data are readily available.

The cost of these commercially available systems varies by types of data desired (speed, volume, travel time, etc.), desired accuracy and timeliness of the data (e.g., 90% accurate within five minutes), types of roads for which data is desired (freeways, major arterials, minor arterials, etc.) and geographic boundaries (city, region, state, etc.). Unfortunately, this is a competitive marketplace for these data providers and they are unable to provide any detailed costing for this report. Costs in the past have ranged from $250,000 for a statewide system (Michigan) to approximately $750 per centerline mile (original I-95 Corridor Coalition contract).

Table 1, from a 2010 report on data systems, provides the estimated costs at that time for collecting data through traditional methods (traffic detectors) and purchasing information from a service provider.

Table 1 -Traditional and Third-Party Data Service Cost Comparison (Source: USDOT 2010)

Infrastructure Based/Typical
Probe Based (I-95 Corridor)
Initial capital cost (per centerline mile)
$26,000
$900
Annual Recurring Cost
$150
$750
5-year Est. Cost
$26,600
$3,900
10-year Est. Cost
$27,350
$7,650


This report, dated June 2014, includes many more details of connected vehicle system costs. These findings along with the costs provide a valuable resource to those considering the implementation of connected vehicle infrastructure.

System Cost

Initial capital cost (per centerline mile) traditional data collection $26,000, Initial capital cost (per centerline mile) probe data collection $900, Annual recurring cost traditional data collection $150, Annual recurring cost probe data collection $750