Volvo Technology Selected to Lead New York CVII Development Program

NEW YORK, June 10 /PRNewswire/ -- Volvo Technology North America has been
selected by the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) to lead
the development and demonstration of an advanced Commercial Vehicle
Infrastructure Integration (CVII) program. A contract awarding this program
to Volvo Technology is being finalized by the state.

Great advances have been made in recent years in the engineering and design of
safer vehicles and highways. Transportation experts recognize that far
greater public and private sector benefits will result by connecting
increasingly sophisticated active safety and communications systems on modern
vehicles with real-time information gathered within the highway environment
itself, using embedded roadway sensors or other intelligent transportation
systems.

The goal of national Vehicle Infrastructure Integration (VII), which uses high
speed, high capacity wireless technology, is to enhance highway user safety by
allowing "smart" vehicles and highway infrastructure to communicate
information to the driver. VII technology can provide a wide range of
communications to the driver including safety warning of potential hazards and
general traveler information. For commercial vehicles, such high-speed,
wireless communications can also be used to improve vehicle productivity and
contribute to improved fuel efficiency and reduced CO2 emissions.

The Volvo-led effort for the state of New York, funded by the I-95 Corridor
Coalition in cooperation with the Federal Highway Administration, is the first
VII program exclusively devoted to developing and demonstrating the technology
for commercial vehicles. The program will demonstrate VII applications for
commercial vehicles along key transportation corridors in the greater New York
City region. Test corridors, utilizing 5.9 GHz dedicated short range
communications, include 13 miles of the New York State Thruway Authority's
I-87 Spring Valley Corridor and 42 miles of NYSDOT's I-495 Long Island
Expressway.

VII technology uses real-time data to present drivers with greater awareness
of events in the vehicle's environment, and to deliver this information in an
intuitive, easy-to-grasp fashion, with clear advice or warnings. High-speed
communications can also be used in CVII to meet specific requirements for
commercial vehicles. The Volvo-led program will test enhanced vehicle
security, demonstrating driver identification and verification using TWIC
(Transportation Worker Identification Credential, an identity card issued by
the Transportation Security Administration) and biometric readers to restrict
vehicle operation to authorized drivers only. The program will also test the
ability to gather real-time information about important vehicle safety
components, such as brake condition.

The CVII team is led by Volvo Technology North America and includes Booz Allen
Hamilton, Kapsch TrafficCom, Cambridge Systematics, Southwest Research
Institute, and Fitzgerald & Halliday. A program advisory team will include
representatives from federal, regional, and state transportation agencies as
well as industry representatives including the New York State Motor Truck
Association.

Volvo Technology and other Volvo Group companies have extensive experience
with numerous ITS technologies. Many of these programs have a strong focus on
optimizing the "human-machine interface," to provide critical information to
drivers in the most effective way. Specifically for VII-based technologies,
Volvo is involved in a number of other programs in Europe and North America.
In Europe, this includes Cooperative Vehicle-Infrastructure Systems, SAFESPOT,
HAVEit, PRE-DRIVE C2X, and the CAR 2 CAR Communications Consortium. In the
U.S., this also includes the Trusted Truck(R).

Volvo Technology North America is a member of the Volvo Group, one of the
world's leading manufacturers of trucks, buses and construction equipment,
drive systems for marine and industrial applications, aerospace components and
services, and is one of the world's leading producers of heavy-diesel engines
(9-16 liter). The Group also provides complete solutions for financing and
service. The Volvo Group, which employs about 100,000 people, has production
facilities in 19 countries and sells its products in more than 180 markets,
including a presence in New York City. Annual sales of the Volvo Group amount
to more than $46 billion. The Volvo Group is a publicly-held company
headquartered in Gothenburg, Sweden. Volvo Shares are listed on Nasdaq OMX
Nordic Exchange and are traded OTC in the US.

SOURCE Volvo Group North America

Marjorie A. Meyers, Director, Corporate Communications of Volvo Group North
America, +1-212-418-7434, marjorie.meyers@volvo.com