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

  • 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
    Read More
  • Bringing V2I and V2V communications to workzone safety
    January 26, 2012
    Imran Hayee of the University of Minnesota Duluth's Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering talks about efforts to bring V2I and V2V communications into work zones. With USDOT backing and under the auspices of the ITS Joint Program Office Connected Vehicle Research (formerly IntelliDrive) research programme, M. Imran Hayee of the University of Minnesota Duluth's Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering along with team of his students, have been conducting research into the application of
    Read More
  • Charging trial tests smartphones for road user charging
    January 26, 2012
    A new project is under way in Minnesota, investigating whether smartphones are technically and publicly acceptable for use in road user charging. Jason Barnes reports. In Minnesota, trials have been launched to determine whether smartphones are technologically viable and acceptable to the public for distance based road user charging (RUC). The Midwestern US state has engaged with Battelle to explore RUC technology options in a project which falls under the auspices of the US Federal Connected Vehicle progra
    Read More
  • Close shave for Brazilian project
    June 12, 2015
    Signing the order to equip a new control room just 45 days before the city hosts a major sporting event is challenging - but some deadlines just cannot be moved. There is nothing like a deadline to concentrate minds and effort as Mitsubishi and the Brazilian city of Belo Horizonte discovered in the run-up to the 2014 World Cup. Although municipal authorities had been considering a new command centre for years, it was the hosting of the World Cup last summer that provided the final impetus.
    Read More

Highlighted Content