The Research and Innovative Technology Administration of the U.S. Department of Transportation on Wednesday, May 11, issued a request for information and comments that will be used to help identify research and development opportunities for wireless technology in surface transportation. President Obama’s Wireless Infrastructure and Innovation Initiative includes a proposed $100 million R&D investment to spur innovative wireless applications in surface transportation that advance the administration’s safety, mobility and environmental sustainability agenda.
As part of Obama’s wireless initiative, $3 billion raised from voluntary spectrum incentive auctions would be used to create a Wireless Innovation (WIN) Fund that would aim to catalyze innovation by funding research and development of emerging broadband wireless technologies and applications. The WIN fund is intended to advance economic growth and competitiveness by supporting the nationwide rollout of the next
generation broadband cellular (4G) technologies, supporting development of new applications that leverage that rollout, and paving the way for other new technologies that result in accelerated benefits to the American people.
Overall, the fund will support basic research, experimentation and testbeds, as well as applied development areas such as public safety, education, energy, health, economic development and transportation. The transportation portion of the WIN Fund, which will focus on initiatives above and beyond the existing core Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) programs at USDOT, will provide an additional $100 million in funding over a five-year period to create an ITS Wireless Innovation for Transportation program.
Feedback and comments on any aspect of the RFI are welcomed from all interested public, private and academic entities, and individuals. Responses should be delivered electronically as an e-mail or as an attachment to an e-mail sent to [email protected].
