Miovision acquires V2X leader TTS
Miovision announced today that it has acquired Traffic Technology Services (TTS) – the leading provider of connected vehicle technologies.
TTS provides the connection to traffic infrastructure that powers solutions like Audi’s Traffic Light Information, which helps vehicle operators identify optimum speeds to avoid red lights and reduce fuel consumption. TTS has agreements with 180 agencies. It gets insights from 80,000 intersections to power in-vehicle solutions. It also provides traffic network data to the agencies.
Advanced Technologies Enabling Road Safety
In recent years, the world’s transportation has been rapidly improving. Technology aimed at making roads safer and more efficient has driven this change. One such innovation that has been gaining significant traction is Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) communication technology. V2X holds the promise of transforming transportation. It does this by enabling vehicles to talk to each other and with parts of the transportation system. These parts include traffic lights, road signs, and pedestrian crossings. This smooth info exchange could change how we travel. It will make our roads safer, faster, and greener.
Traffic Technology Services Inc. (TTS) is the pioneer in connected vehicle technologies for CV2X and autonomous vehicle applications. Their cloud-based platform makes drivers safer and more efficient. It does this by connecting vehicles to traffic signals and other parts of the road. With this technology, vehicles can receive warnings about potential hazards, such as accidents or road obstructions, well in advance, allowing drivers to take appropriate action. Additionally, it can optimize traffic flow by providing vehicles with information about traffic conditions and optimal routes.
To delve deeper into the world of V2X technology and its implications, we sat down with the architects of this acquisition – Joe Custer, Miovision’s CFO and Thomas Bauer, TTS’s CEO who will now lead the connected vehicle product group within Miovision.
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Interview:
Q: Why has Miovision acquired TTS?
Joe Custer: At Miovision, we believe V2X [vehicle-to-everything] is a massive opportunity with great long term potential to save lives, reduce energy consumption, and generate productivity in the commercial fleet space that will underpin the smart city infrastructure economy over the next 10 to 20 years.
You have to ask yourself the fundamental question: “will autonomous vehicles require networked communication with the infrastructure?” So, every time we’ve asked that question to the experts, the answer is a resounding “YES”.
Now Elon Musk and Tesla may have something to say about that, and traffic lights or indicators may change, the technology and standards may evolve, but infrastructure connectivity and situational awareness will always be required.
So when we evaluated our options and potential acquisition targets, TTS really stood out because they’re the pioneer and leader and have been tackling this problem for over the past 10 years. They’ve already deployed a commercial solution, developing the necessary relationships with agencies and OEMs. And, they have a roadmap to significantly expand what’s possible. So, we’re very happy to have Thomas and his team join Miovision.
It’s important to note that TTS has over 80,000 signals included in their services today and we feel that Miovision can help them reach critical mass through our existing 95,000 intersections across North America, Europe and other places to scale this service and attract new customers for the benefit of everyone around the globe. Think of it as the ‘air traffic control’ network providing situational awareness for all connected and autonomous vehicles: always on, streaming live data services, at scale. This is the future of critical transportation infrastructure.
In North America, this is a $2+ billion infrastructure problem that we believe we can solve fairly quickly with the help of investors and partners; it will take a village. The impact is exponential and I’ll leave you with this example, if an EV vehicle battery manager knows how the traffic signals along a corridor will operate, including the surrounding situational awareness in an urban driving scenario, we believe we can extend that battery charge by at least 15% to 20% in addition to saving more lives.
Q: Why has TTS agreed to become part of Miovision?
Thomas Bauer: When it comes to V2X solutions, the size of the infrastructure network you can access matters. We’ve built a strong network of 80,000 intersections, but we know that having more intersections greatly increases the usefulness of the in-vehicle application. Joining Miovision not only gives us the opportunity to work to expand into new geographical areas, it also provides us with a path to providing a broader, compelling offering to traffic agencies who ultimately own the traffic data that powers our solution.
Miovision also already has relationships with transit and emergency services agencies and we think there are really interesting possibilities for V2X solutions that greatly enhance both transit delivery and emergency response.
Ultimately, we believe that being part of Miovision will help us accelerate the adoption of our solution.
Q: What’s next – how will TTS be integrated into Miovision?
Joe Custer: This is Miovision’s sixth acquisition in less than three years, so we’re becoming more experienced with quickly integrating acquisitions. The first aim is to ensure the business has the freedom to operate: we’ve acquired TTS because we admire what they’ve accomplished, so we want to maintain the important relationships they’ve built, the talent they’ve attracted, and the quality of the solutions they deliver.
Then, it’s really about mapping how to realize the potential of V2X within Miovision, working with the experts – Thomas and his team – and having them collaborate with key people on our product side.
Thomas Bauer: This is the next logical step in our evolution. We’re excited to work with our new colleagues within Miovision, tap into their expertise to accelerate our vision – to drive V2X adoption and get more information in more vehicles.
Q: What might this acquisition mean for Miovision’s existing customers?
Thomas Bauer: Our current partnerships are based on a kind of value exchange. Agencies and partners provide access to traffic data from their infrastructure and, in exchange, we provide insights that enable them to optimize their traffic network. For Miovision customers – part of the integration process will be working with the Miovision product team to understand what we can deliver from a data and insights perspective via Miovision Core. We’re hoping we can create some compelling opportunities for existing Miovision customers to enable us to significantly grow the data network for in-vehicle applications.
Joe Custer: We also see some really interesting opportunities within our transit and emergency vehicle customers. Currently we offer signal priority to improve transit reliability and reduce emergency response times.
But, the solution – and eleven patents – that Thomas and team are bringing to Miovision offers the potential to improve our offering to these customers as well as new customers in the commercial fleet space.
Typically, we find the functional integration takes a few quarters before we can start bringing co-developed solutions to market – so stay tuned!
About Miovision
Miovision enables cities to reduce traffic congestion and vehicle emissions while improving public safety through scalable intelligent transportation solutions.
Our AI-powered platform helps communities improve traffic efficiency at the intersection and make roads safer for all types of road users – drivers, cyclists and pedestrians.
We are committed to driving positive change. We are shaping the future of urban mobility at the front of smart city transportation innovation. We use technology and teamwork. They help us empower cities and communities. They make transportation systems safer, and more sustainable and efficient. And they will last for generations.
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