Skip to main content

Virginia Automated Corridors unveiled

The Virginia Automated Corridors, a new initiative that its developers claim will revolutionise the development and deployment of automated vehicles, has been unveiled on more than 70 miles of interstates and arterial roads in the Northern Virginia region. The Corridors were established by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute in partnership with the Virginia Department of Transportation; the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles; Transurban; and Here, Nokia’s mapping business in support of the tran
June 3, 2015 Read time: 2 mins
The Virginia Automated Corridors, a new initiative that its developers claim will revolutionise the development and deployment of automated vehicles, has been unveiled on more than 70 miles of interstates and arterial roads in the Northern Virginia region.

The Corridors were established by the 5593 Virginia Tech Transportation Institute in partnership with the 1747 Virginia Department of Transportation; the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles; 600 Transurban; and 7643 Here, 183 Nokia’s mapping business in support of the transportation institute’s automated vehicle research.

The corridors include Interstates 66, 495, and 95, as well as state routes 29 and 50, roads which compose one of the most congested corridors in the US, with multiple transportation challenges that could be mitigated through the use of automation, including congestion. The corridors also include two test-track environments: the Virginia Smart Road, located on-site at the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute; and the Virginia International Raceway.

The Virginia Automated Corridors integrate a range of resources, including access to dedicated high-occupancy toll lanes managed by Transurban along Interstates 495 and 95; high-definition mapping capabilities, real-time traffic and incidents, intelligent routing, and location cloud technology supported by Here, which has worked with major automakers on previous automated-vehicle projects; pavement markings maintained by the Virginia Department of Transportation for completeness and retro-reflectivity; accurate localisation via high-precision global navigation satellite systems; connected-vehicle capabilities enabled by dedicated short-range communications and cellular technology; access to sophisticated, unobtrusive data acquisition systems; and operations at higher speeds along a test track that features complex curves.

The corridors will help facilitate the use of state roads and test facilities for automated-vehicle testing, certification, and migration towards deployment.

“Next-generation vehicle technologies can help transform our transportation system, from enhancing safety to supporting driver convenience,” said Tom Dingus, director of the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute. “Our goal with the Virginia Automated Corridors is to ensure automated-vehicle developers and suppliers have access to both a robust roadway environment and significant research support to create, test, and deploy systems that are beneficial to users.”

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • NMIS continues global expansion strategy
    December 18, 2013
    UK company Newpark Mats and Integrated Services (NMIS), part of Houston-based Newpark Resources and a worldwide provider of ground protection solutions, is continuing its expansion strategy with the acquisition of today of its UK distributor, Oxfordshire-based Terrafirma Roadways (TFR). The gives the company a stronger foothold in the UK and Europe and will be supported by increased production capacity at the company’s Louisiana based manufacturing plant, where Newpark recently announced a US$41.1 millio
  • Texas A&M offer free campus transport testing
    October 27, 2016
    Free evaluation and testing of transportation systems and products might seem too good to be true - but it isn’t. Colin Sowman reports. Texas A&M University is offering to host transport technology demonstrations and research projects free of charge at its Main and newly-renamed Rellis campuses. The initiative’s aim is to encourage those with technologies that could improve transportation to bring their products, systems and ideas to Texas A&M’s campus where they can be evaluated, tested and demonstrated.
  • Pricing practise for HOT lane operation
    May 11, 2017
    Timothy Compston weighs up the critical elements that keep the wheels of dynamic pricing schemes turning in today's high-occupancy toll (HOT) lanes. In the drive towards smarter tolling it is perhaps not surprising that sophisticated pricing algorithms are being rolled out to better reflect supply and demand on the roadway. This is the case with high-occupancy toll (HOT) lanes which a growing number of DoTs are seeing as a way of smoothing the operation of their existing, and planned, freeway infrastructure
  • Senior Iteris appointment
    July 13, 2012
    Tom Blair, an experienced software industry leader, has joined Iteris and assumed the new position of senior vice president of Iteris’s recently established iPerform group. The group was established in 2011 to focus on the development and deployment of software-based performance measurement and information management solutions. It was expanded with the acquisition of Berkeley Transportation Systems in October 2011, and has since made several key management appointments.