Minnesota Department of Transportation to begin autonomous bus testing

The Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) is planning to test the use of an autonomous bus in a cold weather climate and is to issue a request for proposals seeking partners to help demonstrate the technology.
June 15, 2017 Read time: 1 min

The 2103 Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) is planning to test the use of an autonomous bus in a cold weather climate and is to issue a request for proposals seeking partners to help demonstrate the technology.

Testing will start with warm and cold weather testing at MnROAD, MnDOT’s test track facility near Albertville. MnROAD is used by researchers from around the world to test road building materials and designs.

After successful testing at MnROAD, a live test could be conducted the week of the 2018 Super Bowl, which is being hosted in Minnesota. Additional on-road tests may also be conducted at various locations around the state.

According to Jay Hietpas, MnDOT state traffic engineer and director of the agency’s office of safety and technology, Minnesota is the perfect state to test autonomous vehicles; it is a mass transit state and has cold and snowy weather.

“The low-speed 2.5 miles loop and high-speed 3.5 mile segment of MnROAD provide a safe and secure environment for testing autonomous vehicles in winter weather conditions,” Hietpas said.

Location Based Systems

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • VW scandal prompts emissions testing debate
    December 1, 2015
    In the wake of the VW scandal John Kendall looks at emissions testing on both sides of the Atlantic. Since the VW emissions story broke in September, emissions testing has come under greater scrutiny, and none more so than in Europe, where critics have long been highlighting the weaknesses of the testing system. Ironically, changes to the emissions testing process were already under review but the story has pushed it up the agenda.
    Read More
  • Scottish company produces motor fuel from whisky
    March 2, 2015
    A Scottish company has become the first in the world to produce biofuel capable of powering cars from residues of the whisky industry. Edinburgh-based Celtic Renewables now plans to build a production facility in central Scotland after manufacturing the first samples of bio-butanol from the by-products of whisky fermentation. Celtic Renewables, in partnership with the Ghent-based BioBase Europe Pilot Plant (BBEPP), has produced the first samples of bio-butanol from waste using a process called the acetone-b
    Read More
  • Intersection collision avoidance system trial
    January 31, 2012
    Although much of the emphasis of research into intersection management has tended to concentrate on the needs of urban locations, there remain specific issues pertaining to rural intersections which need to be addressed. Here, Rebecca Szymkowski and Greg Helgeson, Wisconsin DOT, Todd Szymkowski, University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Craig Shankwitz and Arvind Menon, University of Minnesota detail progress on an intersection collision avoidance system for more remote locations.
    Read More
  • Motown morphs into Mobility City
    August 7, 2018
    Detroit was once a byword for urban decay – but ITS America recently held its annual meeting there. This gave David Arminas a chance to assess how fast Motor City is moving down the road to recovery. Motor City, as Detroit is still called, was on its financial knees only five short years ago. The future looked bleak as the city and greater urban area bled jobs and population. It was on 18 July 2013 that Motown, as Detroit is also known, filed for Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection, the
    Read More

Highlighted Content