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

  • Success of Transport for London’s real time bus information service
    October 18, 2012
    Since its launch a year ago, the UK’s Transport for London (TfL) Countdown real time bus information service has dealt with more than 620 million requests and, according to TfL, the service has made millions of journeys easier, dealing with an average of 1.6 million requests via the internet and smart phones and 36,000 requests via text each day. TfL has also recently completed the installation of 2,500 new and improved bus information roadside signs across the capital. These provide clearer amber text on
    Read More
  • ITS in the Nordic states
    April 7, 2021
    Denmark, Norway, Finland and Sweden are quietly embracing advanced traffic technologies.
    Read More
  • Texas alliance designated as US DOT automated vehicle proving ground
    January 25, 2017
    The Texas Automated Vehicle (AV) Proving Ground is one of ten sites designated as an automated vehicle proving ground. Formed by an alliance that includes the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI), the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) and Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI), other members are the University of Texas at Austin’s Center for Transportation Research (CTR), and 32 municipal and regional partners. The Texas group plans to offer a full and varied range of testing environments, from
    Read More
  • Utah Department of Transportation: How we’re using traffic analytics software
    February 4, 2025
    Our use of Iteris ClearGuide lets our traffic operations engineers interpret critical probe traffic data without the need for statisticians and software developers
    Read More

Highlighted Content