Smart Guide Signing System Using RFID As an Intelligent Sensor

Intersections account for more than two million crashes in the United States every year. Besides good geometric designs, an even more efficient and powerful way is to design a smart guide signing system to accurately and timely provide drivers with proper control and regulation information (e.g., STOP and YIELD signs, speed limit), which are however normally blocked by roadside trees and parking vehicles. The Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology, which is ideal in providing short range "infrastructure (i.e., the roadways) to vehicle" communications, is one of the good tools to implement such smart guide system. In this paper, a pilot test using RFID as an intelligent sensor is presented, including the selection of proper RFID emitters and receivers, the testing design, data collection from the tests and performance analysis, computer programming, simulation of in-vehicle display system to broadcast the received information, etc. Besides, the possible impacts of RFID based smart guide system to transportation safety, environment, and efficiency are also provided.