Skip to main content

Ohio tests self driving truck

A self-driving truck developed by Otto has been travelling on two Ohio roads after state officials announced details of new investments to support innovative transportation technology, says Associated Press. The vehicle is travelling on a 35-mile stretch of US Route 33 and in central Ohio between Dublin and East Liberty, home to the Transportation Research Center, an independent testing facility. It travels in regular traffic, with a driver in the cab to intervene should problems arise. Officials say
December 1, 2016 Read time: 2 mins
A self-driving truck developed by Otto has been travelling on two Ohio roads after state officials announced details of new investments to support innovative transportation technology, says Associated Press.

The vehicle is travelling on a 35-mile stretch of US Route 33 and in central Ohio between Dublin and East Liberty, home to the Transportation Research Center, an independent testing facility. It travels in regular traffic, with a driver in the cab to intervene should problems arise.

Officials say that section of Route 33, a four-lane, divided road, is an important piece of autonomous vehicle research in the state and will become a corridor where new technologies can be safely tested in real-life traffic, aided by a fibre-optic cable network and sensor systems slated for installation next year.

The self-driving truck is also expected to travel next week on part of the Ohio Turnpike.

The turnpike's executive director said in August that officials were moving toward allowing testing of self-driving vehicles on the 241-mile toll road, a heavily travelled connector between the East Coast and Chicago.

Related Content

  • Dutch ministers plan large-scale road testing of self-driving cars
    June 18, 2014
    Self-driving cars could appear on Dutch roads before long as the government is preparing regulations that will make large-scale public testing legal. According to Minister for Infrastructure and the Environment Melanie Schultz van Haegen who made the proposal, the age of self-driving cars has arrived and she wants the country to be ready to play a leading international role in the innovation: “Self-driving cars will make a positive contribution to the flow of traffic and to the safety of our busy road ne
  • A more equitable approach to road charging: is the technology there yet?
    September 8, 2023
    Thinking around road user charging, distance-based payments, and even mileage rationing is ever-widening with new concepts and suggestions being aired and brought forward every other week. Yet, as Jorgen Petersen of Systra explains, there are already many solutions in place throughout the world which promote modal shift, reduce traffic and improve air quality…
  • The benefit of Lidar: touch, don’t look
    September 28, 2020
    The benefits of Lidar as a safety device for automobiles rather than as an enabler for AVs are easy to overlook – but Dr Jun Pei of Cepton Technologies tells Adam Hill why that would be a big mistake
  • WTS International: Attract, Connect, Sustain, Advance
    December 7, 2022
    WTS International exists to connect transportation professionals, and to help prepare the next generation of the mobility workforce. But it takes everyone to create change, says Lindsay Shelton-Gross