Skip to main content

TRC launches smart mobility advanced research and test centre

The US state of Ohio and the Ohio State University are funding the US$45 million Phase 1 expansion of the Transportation Research Center's (TRC) new 540-acre SMART (Smart Mobility Advanced Research and Test) Center. To to be built within the 4,500 acres of the TRC’s independent automotive testing facility and proving grounds, SMART aims to be a hub for testing of automated and autonomous vehicles, designed to enable car manufacturers and suppliers to expand their testing. Phase 1 of the expansion will in
January 27, 2017 Read time: 2 mins
The US state of Ohio and the Ohio State University are funding the US$45 million Phase 1 expansion of the Transportation Research Center's (TRC) new 540-acre SMART (Smart Mobility Advanced Research and Test) Center. To to be built within the 4,500 acres of the TRC’s independent automotive testing facility and proving grounds, SMART aims to be a hub for testing of automated and autonomous vehicles, designed to enable car manufacturers and suppliers to expand their testing.

Phase 1 of the expansion will include a flexible platform and infrastructure; a high-speed intersection; a flexible test platform; an urban network of intersections, roundabouts, traffic signals; a rural network including wooded roads, neighbourhood network and a SMART Center support building.

TRC has been testing different types of vehicles and components on its 4,500-acre facility for more than 40 years, including testing automated and autonomous vehicles over the last two decades.  It provides a convenient location to safely test new technologies before their use on city streets and highways in support of Columbus's $140 million 324 US Department of Transportation (USDOT) Smart City project.

Funding efforts are underway for Phases 2 and 3 of the. Phase 2 will focus on the world's first indoor test facility, which will enable rigorous testing of highly automated vehicles in severe weather conditions.  Phase 3 will include a six-lane high-speed highway, with on and off ramps and underpasses, to support the testing of vehicle swarming and truck platooning.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Advanced in-vehicle user interface - future developments
    February 1, 2012
    Dave McNamara and Craig Simonds, Autotechinsider LLC, look at human-machine interface development out to 2015. The US auto industry is going through the worst crisis it has faced since the Great Depression. But it has embraced technologies that will produce the best-possible driving experience for the public. Ford was the first OEM to announce in-car internet radio and SYNC, its signature-branded User Interface (UI), is held up as the shining example of change embracement.
  • UK government funds connected vehicle development with a Flourish
    February 5, 2016
    The UK government has selected the Flourish consortium as a winner of its multi-million pound research grant to fuel development in user-centric autonomous vehicle technology and connected transport systems. The new programme, co-funded by the UK’s innovation agency, Innovate UK, will focus on the core themes of connectivity, autonomy and customer interaction. The three-year project, led by Atkins and worth US$8 million, seeks to develop products and services that maximise the benefits of connected and
  • FTA pledges $14m for US transit projects
    September 9, 2020
    Robotic Research to equip docking solution for disabled people on Kansas buses
  • US university launches program to study safe integration of semi-autonomous trucks
    May 26, 2017
    The Western Transportation Institute (WTI) at Montana State University is launching a program to study how to safely integrate driverless technology into the US trucking fleet. Similar to the driverless cars being developed by Google and others, self-driving trucks would use sophisticated computers and GPS technology to navigate roadways. Within a decade, the technology is likely to be applied in semi-autonomous truck convoys, or ‘platoons’, in which trucks equipped with self-driving technology would be pro