Skip to main content

American Center for Mobility plans connected vehicle test centre in Michigan

WSP/Parsons Brinckerhoff has been awarded a contract by the American Center for Mobility (ACM) to develop a concept of operations, system requirements, and a procurement strategy for the technology elements of a major new connected and automated vehicle test site facility. The ACM will be built on more than 335 acres adjacent to Willow Run Airport in Ypsilanti, where B-24 bombers were made during World War II in a factory built by Henry Ford. It aims to become a national advanced automotive testing and p
December 20, 2016 Read time: 2 mins
8556 WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff has been awarded a contract by the American Center for Mobility (ACM) to develop a concept of operations, system requirements, and a procurement strategy for the technology elements of a major new connected and automated vehicle test site facility.

The ACM will be built on more than 335 acres adjacent to Willow Run Airport in Ypsilanti, where B-24 bombers were made during World War II in a factory built by Henry Ford. It aims to become a national advanced automotive testing and product development centre that can accommodate the broad needs of industry and government, test various weather conditions including ice and snow and provide room to grow and adapt as technology dictates. The centre will carry out precautionary testing before vehicles are deployed on the road and provide a proving ground for collaborative safety technology demonstrations. The ACM will also serve as a convening centre to accelerate the development of voluntary standards.

The concept of operations will define requirements for the test facility, including connected vehicle infrastructure, traditional intelligent transportation systems (ITS) technologies, data collection, monitoring and test simulation needs associated with the site.

As the prime consultant, WSP/Parsons Brinckerhoff will coordinate with staff and contractors to develop a complete baseline understanding of the project, identify all user needs, establish a proposed phasing for the site development and coordinate all third party agreements which could impact the design concept. The firm will conduct stakeholder outreach meetings in Southeast Michigan with key stakeholders and customers in order to identify system needs.

Related Content

  • October 17, 2019
    Solving Detroit’s jams: just ask a Michigan student
    At the Institute of Transportation Engineers annual meeting, a clever student plan to reduce commute times in Detroit suggests the future of the ITS industry is in good hands, write Pete Spiller and Jarrod Cady A team of students from the University of Michigan won a national student Transportation Technology Tournament - sponsored by the National Operations Center of Excellence (NOCoE) and the US Department of Transportation - with a compelling presentation on reducing congestion. In an impressive d
  • January 25, 2012
    Connected vehicle technology the solution to safety?
    A series of 'driver clinics' is under way across five states, as vehicle manufacturers and the US Government pin their hopes on connected vehicles becoming the next big advance in road safety. Pete Goldin reports. What would a car say if it could talk? Its first words might be: "Here I am". Many vehicles are communicating that very message to each other right now. Admittedly, this is in controlled environments of US Department of Transportation (USDoT) tests, but within the next few years 'connected vehicle
  • May 26, 2017
    Michigan DOT and General Motors demonstrate V2I technology
    Michigan road agencies and General Motors' (GM) Research & Development are collaborating to showcase the state's progress in connected and automated vehicles by demonstrating smart signal technology. Demonstrations were recently conducted in Macomb County, adjacent to GM's Warren Technical Center, as development vehicles engaged in vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communication at two intersections. In collaboration with the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) and the Macomb County Department of Roa
  • July 23, 2012
    Improving the positional accuracy of GNSS road user charging
    The European GINA project is intended to address and overcome many of the institutional, technical and public acceptance hurdles currently faced by satellite-based road user charging schemes. Dave Tindall and Denis Naberezhnykh, TRL, and Laure Dezes, ERF, write. Pay-as-you-drive Road User Charging (RUC), whereby demand (or congestion) is managed by applying appropriate tariffs in order to encourage drivers to make their journeys at less busy times, on less congested routes or even on different modes, could