Slowing Down, Ramping Up: Expanding NYC's Intelligent Speed Assistance Program

The New York City fleet is getting a major expansion of the DCAS Intelligent Speed Assistance (ISA) program thanks for nearly $30 million in federal funding through the Safe Streets and Roads for All program.

The grant will support expand the ISA program to 1,700 additional fleet vehicles. With this addition, a total of 2,000 units will soon feature ISA technology. According to DCAS, this will be the largest ISA program of its type in North America. 

Keeping Safety at the Forefront with ISA Technology

In August 2022, the city announced the initial pilot featuring 50 units retrofitted with ISA. ISA technology is installed on each vehicle's engine computer and accelerator and is tied to the Fleet Office of Real-Time Tracking (FORT).

ISA prevents a vehicle from going faster than the speed limit in place wherever an operator is driving. Once a vehicle is at the speed limit or any other speed set by DCAS, the vehicle will no longer accelerate beyond that speed. The current DCAS system offers the driver a release button to suspend ISA for 15 seconds at a time if an unusual traffic situation requires it.  

In January 2023, the city announced the initiative's early success with fleet vehicles staying within the set speed limits for 99% of miles driven and a 36% reduction in hard braking events. Hard braking indicates unsafe driving habits, including speeding and tailgating. The release button was rarely employed, according to reports. 

From Pilot to Major Part of the Safe Fleet and Vision Zero Strategy

DCAS has now installed ISA on 300 city vehicles from 13 agencies, including 14 types of vehicles, ranging from sedans, SUVs, pickups, vans, trucks, to school buses. Over 750,000 miles have already been driven using ISA. 

DCAS will work with all city agencies to develop a list of heavily used vehicles to enroll in the program. Using the current telematics and crash data, DCAS will focus on vehicles with existing speeding, safety risk, or crash histories to add the ISA technology.