You can save money, save lives AND hopefully save time in brutal Bay Area traffic -– not to mention get a free hi-tech upgrade for your car –- by signing up for the Tampa Connected Vehicle Pilot program, which will issue warnings to drivers, keep surrounding drivers and pedestrians safer and collect data for future study.
In conjunction with the Tampa Hillsborough Expressway Authority, FDOT and USDOT, the CVP program is looking for everyday folks with cars built in 1995 or earlier.
The installation and equipment is free (and yours to keep forever and ever), although your old rearview mirror will be totally replaced by a new futuristic one that flashes warnings.
The CV Pilot program is being tested in just three U.S. locations: New York City, Wyoming and Tampa.
“It’s the next level of technology, the next generation,” says Bob Frey, planning director at the Expressway Authority.
If accepted into the program, participants will receive a 30 percent toll discount on the Leroy Selmon Expressway Reversible Express Lanes.
Pedestrians can also download a free app that will also communicate to other cars (and buses and trolleys), keeping users safer in crosswalks.
The program is looking for 1,600 drivers total. Registration is now; installation in a couple months. The program goes lives April 2018.
