The Department of Transportation on Thursday designated 10 new testing sites for autonomous vehicles.
These testing sites will enable information sharing and individual and commercial mobility, expand capacity, and provide more opportunities to underserved communities. The testing sites will also analyze big data from automated vehicle testing to inform future research.
“The designated proving grounds will collectively form a Community of Practice around safe testing and deployment,” said Anthony Foxx, former secretary of transportation. “This group will openly share best practices for the safe conduct of testing and operations as they are developed, enabling the participants and the general public to learn at a faster rate and accelerating the pace of safe deployment.”
The new testing grounds were chosen from more than 60 applicants that have different facilities to assess safety, handle different roadways and conditions, and work with various types of vehicles. When the applicants submitted their proposals, starting in November 2016, they had to show safety plans and ability to share information, and agree to follow applicable laws.
The new testing facilities are:
- City of Pittsburgh and the Thomas D. Larson Pennsylvania Transportation Institute.
- Texas AV Proving Grounds Partnership.
- S. Army Aberdeen Test Center in Maryland.
- American Center for Mobility (ACM) at Willow Run in Michigan.
- Contra Costa Transportation Authority (CCTA) & GoMentum Station in California.
- San Diego Association of Governments.
- Iowa City Area Development Group.
- University of Wisconsin-Madison.
- Central Florida Automated Vehicle Partners.
- North Carolina Turnpike Authority.
