Senators urge FCC to enable data sharing technology

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U.S. Sens. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) and Gary Peters (D-MI), Senate Subcommittee on Surface Transportation, Maritime, Freight and Ports chairman, recently sent a letter to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) urging the agency to enable the deployment of Cellular Vehicle to Everything (C-V2X) technology.

C-V2X is an intelligent transportation system technology that enables data sharing between vehicles, the infrastructure they operate on, and nearby road users. It uses the 5.9 GHz spectrum band.

The senators urged the agency to accelerate the approval of C-V2X waivers. Waivers, they said, would ensure the United States does not fall behind other countries in its development and adoption and would jumpstart the deployment of the lifesaving mobility safety technology.

“Swift action on these waivers is essential given C-V2X technology’s potential to reverse rising roadway fatalities,” the letter said. “The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimated that 42,915 people died in motor vehicle traffic crashes in 2021, a 10.5 percent increase from 2020. Many of these deaths are avoidable if we facilitate broad deployment of roadway safety technologies like C-V2X. Indeed, NHTSA has previously estimated that safety applications enabled by V2X could eliminate or mitigate the severity of more than 80 percent of light vehicle crashes.”