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

  • January 23, 2012
    Future traffic management needs new thinking, new technology
    One of the biggest problems facing US ITS professionals, says Georgia DOT's Hugh Colton, is the constrained thinking which is sometimes forced upon those making procurement decisions. It is time, he says, to look again at how we do things. In the November/December 2010 edition of this journal, Pete Goldin interviewed Joseph Sussman, chairman of the US's ITS Program Advisory Committee. Amongst other observations that Sussman made was that, technologically, ITS in the US is 10 years behind that in the world-l
  • October 28, 2019
    Why Netflix could overcome road pricing resistance
    As the US moves towards a national road usage charging trial, education is paramount – and subscription services like Netflix might help people understand why the money is needed, writes Bill Cramer
  • January 25, 2012
    Los Angeles Express Lanes links multiple modes of transportation
    The Big Apple's loss is the City of Angels's gain, according to Ken Philmus
  • August 20, 2015
    New system to prevent Hazchem and over-height vehicles entering tunnel
    An impending move to free-flow charging prompted a search for automated dangerous goods identification and over-height detection systems at the Thames Crossing to the east of London. Manned toll booths are increasingly being consigned to history by the onslaught of all-electronic charging. However, a secondary function of the traditional manned plazas has been to prevent non-compliant vehicles using the facility or to tell a driver that that they need to use a specific lane or wait for an escort. Automating