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Connected Vehicle Acceleration Zone (CVAZ) ��ITS Arizona Conference

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October 9, 2025

Name : Title : Date

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BACKGROUND & OVERVIEW

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Foundational Building Blocks

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Prior Connected Vehicle Efforts

Maricopa County has more than a decade of connected vehicle leadership.

Anthem Test Bed

(11 Connected Intersections)

SMARTDrive Program℠

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The Transportation Challenge

  • Maricopa County is one of the fastest growing counties in US and more than 70% of Arizona’s crashes occur in Maricopa County.
  • Arizona has the second highest rate of VRU fatalities in the US.
  • Congestion impacts quality of life, emergency response, and goods movement.
  • Traditional roadway improvements cannot keep pace with regional growth.

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Connected Vehicle Acceleration Zone (CVAZ)

  • $19.6M Saving Lives with Connectivity: Accelerating V2X Deployment USDOT Grant
  • Led by MCDOT, with 18-member Public Private Partnership
  • Deployment of Direct and Network V2X at scale to address unmet regional needs and demonstrate safety benefits of the technology
  • Demonstrate interoperability at all levels

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Deployment Area

  • 265 square miles of Phoenix metro region
  • Focused on the central core
    • Phoenix
    • Avondale
    • Tolleson
    • Portions of unincorporated Maricopa County
    • US60/Grand Avenue

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Partnerships

  • Transportation Agencies: Owner-operator of future system
  • Academia: Research and technology support
  • State & Regional Partners: Governance and policy guidance
  • Private Industry: Technology providers

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Goals & Objectives

  • Primary Goal: Save lives and reduce serious injuries.

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  • Performance measures are being developed for output (activities) and outcomes (results).

Enhance Roadway Safety

Improve Mobility & Efficiency

Data Collection & Future Readiness

Knowledge Transfer & Workforce Development

Economic Sustainability

Replicability

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Structure and Phasing

Nov. 2024

May 2026

May 2027

May 2032+

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CVAZ USE CASES

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Justification for Change

Stakeholder

Identified Need

Operational Concept

Emergency Responders

Reduce emergency response times.

Emergency Vehicle Preemption (EVP).

Transit Operators

Improve bus schedule reliability.

Transit Signal Priority (TSP).

Freight Operators

Reduce freight corridor congestion.

Freight Signal Priority (FSP).

Vulnerable Road Users (VRUs)

Increase pedestrian and cyclist safety.

VRU safety alert messages and intersection prioritization.

TMCs

Real-time system-wide data visibility.

V2X Hub aggregates live traffic data.

Local Jurisdictions

Improve traffic signal efficiency and reduce congestion.

Signal optimization based on vehicle presence.

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System Components - Proposed

  • Roadside Units (RSUs)
  • Roadside Processors (RSPs)
  • Onboard Units (OBUs)

Direct V2X

  • Message Exchange Platform (MEP)
  • Smartphones

Network V2X

  • Security Credential Management System (SCMS)
  • V2X Management System
  • Data System

Support Systems

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System �Concept

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Use Cases

  • Emergency Vehicle Priority (EVP) – faster response, reduced crash risk at intersections.
  • Transit Signal Priority (TSP) – improved bus reliability and efficiency.
  • Freight Signal Priority (FSP) – smoother freight movement, reduced congestion impacts.
  • Pedestrian and Road User Safety (VRU) – alerts for vulnerable users.

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Emergency Vehicle Preemption

  • Provides a high level of priority for emergency responders by interrupting the current signal operations to provide service to the emergency vehicle movement.
  • The OBU will be integrated with the emergency vehicle’s onboard systems, enabling the lights and siren system to activating the EVP application.

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What does this change?

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Transit Signal Priority

  • Provides priority for transit vehicles based on agency business rules for signal priority.
  • The OBU will be separate from the transit system network.

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What does this change?

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Freight Signal Priority

  • Provides priority for freight vehicles based on agency business rules for signal priority.
  • The application may run on a mobile device to allow flexibility in terms of request activation (on/off) and interchangeability (vehicle).

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What does this change?

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Vulnerable Road Users

  • Provides in-vehicle alerts/warnings of the presence of VRUs (detected by infrastructure-based sensors).
  • The application will run on both OBU and smartphones and provide audible/visual interface with drivers.

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What does this change?

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System Deployment

Scale of Deployment

  • 750 signalized intersections
    • ~670 planned for EVP
    • ~240 planned for TSP
    • ~65 planned for FSP
    • ~75 planned for VRU
  • 400 connected vehicles
    • Emergency response vehicles
    • Transit vehicles
    • Freight vehicles

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NEXT STEPS

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Current Status

Current Status

  • Procurement and systems engineering activities underway.
  • Systems engineering and planning for field installation and deployment.
  • Early testing of use cases in pilot corridors.

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Next Steps

  • Continue outreach and engagement with stakeholders and the public.
  • Scale use cases to more vehicles and intersections.
  • Expand deployment across new corridors in Maricopa County.

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Expanding �the �Ecosystem

Anthem Test Bed

Loop 101 Mobility

CV Deployment

Durango

Test Bed

Intelligent Freight & Transit Signal Priority Project

DRIVE Arizona

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CONTACT FORM + WEBSITE QR CODE

Vendor/Partner Contact Form

Project Website

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Contact

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Joe Cottrell

CVAZ Deployment Lead

Joe.Cottrell@maricopa.gov

480-604-7474

Scott Beck

CVAZ GEC Deputy Project Mgr

Scott.Beck@wsp.com

480-449-4628

Virginia Lingham

CVAZ GEC Project Mgr

Virginia.Lingham@wsp.com

415-712-8412

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Toni Middleton

CVAZ Project Management Lead

antonia.middleton@maricopa.gov

602-506-8940

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Q&A

Project Website

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Initiative Goals

Deploy, operate, and showcase integrated, advanced interoperable deployments.

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Inform and educate the ITS community and the general public regarding these impacts.

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Support the development, evaluation, and documentation of a suitable reference implementation.

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V2X Accelerator Sites