Cooperative intelligent transport systems (C-ITS) enable ITS users to interact and cooperate by exchanging secured and trusted messages without prior knowledge of each other and in a non-discriminatory manner. The EU C-ITS security credential management system has three central roles that the Commission shall be responsible for ensuring are executed. Priority area IV is dedicated to ITS services for Connected and Automated Mobility (CCAM). Work on specifications under the ITS Directive will restart in 2026, covering the EU C-ITS security credential management system, harmonised C-ITS services, and fostering development and implementation of C-ITS. Currently, 2.5 million vehicles are sold and 20,000 km of roads are equipped with C-ITS, with 100,000 km covered by C-ITS services across more than 50 European cities in 21 European countries.

The Task Force on Vehicular Communications held its thirteenth session on 23rd January 2026 in Geneva. Presentations on Vulnerable Road Users protection were delivered by Japan, China, and Car2Car, addressing VRU accident analysis, pilot projects, national standardization frameworks, and collective perception approaches. Common themes included sensor limitations, functional safety needs, and harmonized communication standards. The Task Force agreed to continue discussions at its next session.

The agenda includes discussions on protecting vulnerable road users.

SAE J3224 supports vehicle-based V2X sensor sharing via SDSM. SAE J3224/1 describes infrastructure-based detection and sharing of VRU information, with final approval in Motor Vehicle Council balloting and publication planned for August 2026. SAE J3251 specifies OBU device requirements for CDA-equipped vehicles and wheeled VRU types, with publication targeted for Q3 2027. SAE J5001 on PSM communications is on hold due to spectrum limitations and market adoption issues.

Presentation on technology and application validation of VRU protection services across three parts. Part 1 validates functional and process validation; Part 2 tests performance under low-density scenarios; Part 3 tests performance under high-density scenarios with three sub-scenarios: sensing multi-VRUs, multi-services concurrency, and multi-VRUs transmitting PSMs concurrently. Validation encompasses three communication approaches: vehicle-to-vehicle, infrastructure-to-vehicle, and vehicle-to-pedestrian, assessing protocol conformance, communication performance, sensing performance, and service logic triggering mechanisms.

China’s activities on vulnerable road user (VRU) applications include four protection scenarios: roadside infrastructure detection via direct communication; vehicle-based detection via sensor sharing; VRU-equipped V2X device direct communication; and cellular communication via cloud server. China developed national standards GB/T 44286.1-2024 and GB/T 44286.2-2024 specifying collision warning scenarios, and ITU SG21 requirements for VRU service using vehicle gateway. Demonstrations tested pedestrian and electric bicycle protection across Shanghai, Deqing, and Beijing. Key implementation challenges include sensor perception accuracy, direct communication device installation barriers and low penetration, and cloud construction responsibility allocation for cellular communication solutions.