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

  • May 18, 2012
    Get connected
    Delegates at National Harbor this week have opportunity to gain first hand experience of a national connected vehicle program Vehicles of the test fleet of an extensive research program are being put through their paces each day of this year’s ITS America Annual Meeting. With the key objective of showing how vehicles from different manufacturers can communicate and understand each other, technology of the US DOT Connected Vehicle Safety Pilot Program is being demonstrated at National Harbor.
  • March 4, 2024
    Monotch & Detecon to help 5G transport roll-out in EU
    5GMEC4EU project aims to boost 5G take-up along major European transportation routes
  • March 14, 2016
    Connected vehicle trials get big backing from USDOT
    Connected vehicle technology will emerge as a sustainable reality at three sites in the US over the next four years. Jon Masters reports. Advocates of connected vehicle (CV) technology have received a welcome boost from news that the US government has committed a further $4 billion towards automated vehicle research and CV technology. This comes hot on the heels of the US Department of Transportation’s $42 million CV pilot pledge in October last year.
  • January 23, 2012
    Tunnel simulators vital for real world tunnel management
    Guillaume Ponsar, tunnel safety engineer with Egis Road Operation, writes about the advantages to be gained from the use of tunnel simulators. Major tunnel disasters over the last decade and more have shown how swiftly and badly a simple crash or fire may evolve should the wrong actions be taken by control room operators or traffic managers. Global safety issues and the reactions of operations staff have now become the principal concerns for Operations and Maintenance (O&M) service providers. As a result, n