Siemens Mobility, Inc. is pleased to announce it has received OmniAir Certification for its Sitraffic ESCoS roadside unit (RSU), the first roadside unit to receive OmniAir's commercial, connected vehicle certification. Siemens' RSU is one of the few RSUs today that meet U.S. Department of Transportation FHWA specification version 4.1. Now with OmniAir's certification, this roadside unit is well-positioned to become the established standard and a key component for V2X device communications today.

"Today's announcement firmly puts Siemens at the forefront of V2X technology," said Marcus Welz, head of Intelligent Traffic Systems at Siemens Mobility, Inc. "Everybody is eagerly waiting for V2X technology to become more widely available for use and with today's announcement we have reached another key milestone in standardization and interoperability. Our certified roadside units, combined with our readily-available suite of Connected Vehicle Applications, enable cities to significantly increase safety and reduce congestion."

The OmniAir certification program delivers an important level of assurance to Tier-1 suppliers, automotive OEMs, and local, state and federal departments of transportation looking to deploy V2X technology. With such a new, disruptive technology being deployed, it is critical to ensure a level of compliance with industry protocol standards and specifications. Third-party certification for conformance and interoperability of V2X devices are a necessary step for the public and elected officials to fully embrace connected and autonomous vehicles.

"OmniAir has developed a robust, vehicle-to-everything certification program focused on delivering trusted, interoperable devices to the market," said, Jason Conley, executive director of OmniAir Consortium. "Siemens Mobility, Inc. is the world's first company to have a roadside unit earn certification. Deploying agencies should feel confident in requesting OmniAir Certified V2X devices in their large-scale deployment projects, after this historic announcement."

V2X connectivity provides the information to enable safer driving, helping to prevent accidents caused by non-line-of-sight situations such as blind corners, bad weather, and poor lighting conditions. V2X applications like harmonized speed recommendation, travel time, route guidance, or public transit preemption significantly help to reduce congestion, and lower emissions through optimized mobility and traffic coordination.

The Siemens RSU detects information from infrastructure such as traffic signals, crosswalks, or highways, and then turns it into a transmitted message to oncoming vehicles equipped with onboard units receiving a dedicated short-range communications signal, producing video and audio warnings in the vehicles. In turn, the RSU can also process the location of equipped vehicles and provide them via the RSU to a Central Management System to coordinate the traffic in the intersection and throughout the region. This newly-certified RSU is currently being utilized in many key showcases for connected vehicle technology, including key USDOT CV pilot projects in Tampa and New York City. Siemens RSU recently successfully completed the USDOT CV Pilots Interoperability Testing as the only RSU representing THEA and NYCDOT pilots.