Taking Traffic From 2D to 3D

We propose a traffic signaling protocol or standard that is capable of describing vehicular motion in 3D space. Participants in the system signal information about location, velocity, trajectory, etc. to other vehicles and traffic control, if present, with the goal of improving safety, efficiency, speed, and consumer experience.
This website is a placeholder for collecting ideas and proposals for the protocol.

DATCOP(E) denotes a point directly above the center of Earth. The standard can also be applied to other celestial bodies, should that become desirable. The distance from the center of the planet, in conjunction with the distance from two or more fixed points on the surface can be used to describe the location of an object in space at a certain time. Measurements of, for example, longitude, latitude, and altitude over time make the description of 3D motion possible. With the proliferation of 3D capable vehicles we expect a standard like this may become unavoidable in the (near) future.

We aim to develop a standardized protocol to avoid needless competition between governments, industries, and other potential stakeholders, each of which may want to roll out their own potentially conflicting versions of these concepts within the next 50 years.

This is an issue that may become unnecessarily complicated for everyone, if a shared and agreed upon approach is not taken before these problems become an every day issue. Ideally, a combination of visionary politics, consumer demand, scientific prowess, and raw economics would converge to create the conditions to agree on a global protocol.