Skip to main content

FDOT partners with Florida Poly to develop transportation test facility

The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) and Florida Polytechnic University are to partner in a new transportation technology testing facility, SunTrax, to create a high-tech hub for the research, development and testing of emerging transportation technologies related to tolling, intelligent transportation systems (ITS) and automated and connected vehicles. The initial phase of the project will focus on the construction of a toll testing facility expected to offer local and potentially national a
September 29, 2016 Read time: 2 mins
The 4503 Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) and 8507 Florida Polytechnic University are to partner in a new transportation technology testing facility, SunTrax, to create a high-tech hub for the research, development and testing of emerging transportation technologies  related to tolling, intelligent transportation systems (ITS) and automated and connected vehicles.

The initial phase of the project will focus on the construction of a toll testing facility expected to offer local and potentially national and international certification for tolling technologies. The construction of the 2.25 mile oval track will be designed to support high speed testing of toll technologies, with multiple lanes and parallel tolled express lanes similar to those being constructed on many current highway widening projects throughout the state.

This phase of construction will also include structures and other facilities to support toll systems testing and development, including the hardware and software utilised on tolled facilities.

Around 200 acres infield of the track will be developed next in partnership with Florida Poly and is expected to become a hub for automated and connected vehicle testing, allowing the University to offer its students unique opportunities to participate in the research, development and testing of these technologies.

The facility will also include learning laboratory, a simulated city centre, suburban and rural roadways, interconnected signalised intersections, interchange ramps, roundabouts and various types of pavement, equipped to perform research, development and testing for data and security, vehicle safety and equipment certification.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • I-80 Smart Corridor sets the ITS standard for California's Bay Area
    March 23, 2015
    Colin Sowman looks at California’s ‘smartest’ road which will open this spring to counter congestion and accidents on one of the Bay Area’s busiest interstates. Interstate 80 (I-80) is one of the busiest roads in the San Francisco Bay area with up to 270,000 vehicles using the corridor every day. The section between the Carquinez Bridge in Crockett and the Bay Bridge not only suffers congestion during the working week but also at weekends. Traditional remedies such as building additional lanes (there are al
  • I-80 Smart Corridor sets the ITS standard for California's Bay Area
    March 23, 2015
    Colin Sowman looks at California’s ‘smartest’ road which will open this spring to counter congestion and accidents on one of the Bay Area’s busiest interstates. Interstate 80 (I-80) is one of the busiest roads in the San Francisco Bay area with up to 270,000 vehicles using the corridor every day. The section between the Carquinez Bridge in Crockett and the Bay Bridge not only suffers congestion during the working week but also at weekends. Traditional remedies such as building additional lanes (there are al
  • TransCore wins Virginia ATM contract
    April 23, 2013
    The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) has selected TransCore to design and build its I-66 ATM (Active Traffic Management) system on northern Virginia’s main highway into the District of Columbia - one of Virginia’s most congested interstates.
  • Taking tolling towards new opportunities
    May 18, 2016
    Vinci’s André Broto presented his views on how the tolling industry could play an important role in helping authorities ease urban congestion, to delegates at the IBTTA conference. As director of foresight and strategy at Vinci Autoroutes, France, André Broto has been spending some time considering the future of tolling in his own country and worldwide. He presented his thoughts, which include a very different angle of the causes of, and solutions to, congestion at the IBTTA’s (International Bridge, Tunnel