The Transportation Research Center (TRC) is to receive US$45m from the State of Ohio and Ohio State University for Phase 1 of the new 540-acre SMART (Smart Mobility Advanced Research and Test) Center.
Mark-Tami Hotta, CEO at TRC, said, “TRC’s SMART Center is designed to test new technologies and highly automated vehicles in a closed, safe, secure and repeatable real-world environment, before the vehicles are deployed on public roads and highways.
The first phase of the expansion will include the industry’s largest high-speed intersection; the longest and most flexible test platform (a space that will have a width of more than 50 highway lanes and the length of 10 football fields end-to-end); an urban network of intersections, roundabouts and traffic signals; a rural network that includes wooded roads; a neighborhood network that tests slower speeds; and a Smart Center support building.
“We have visited virtually every other active safety and autonomous vehicle test facility around the world, talked with dozens of customers, and are partnering with many others in this space so that we can best serve the needs of everyone regarding creating safer vehicles, safer drivers, and safer roads,” Hotta added.
January 31, 2017
