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

  • Less travel aggravation to blunt Aggieland fans’ motivation
    June 17, 2016
    Returning travel times to normal within two hours of the end of a major football game was the challenge facing College Station, Adam Lyons explains how this was achieved. College Station, TX, also known as ‘Aggieland’, is located right in the middle of the Dallas/Fort Worth, San Antonio and Houston triangle making the city accessible to over 14 million Texans within less than a four-hour drive. One of the biggest draws to this area is Texas A&M University (TAMU) and the Aggie football games in the fall, mea
  • Siemens offers Stamford a ‘bird’s eye view’
    April 29, 2019
    Stamford, Connecticut is a vibrant, diverse community overlooking the Long Island Sound, within commuting distance of New York City. Stamford hosts the largest financial district in the greater New York metro area outside of Manhattan and is home to a high concentration of large corporations and corporate HQs. With a population of 130,000, Stamford is Connecticut’s third largest city and the fastest-growing municipality in the state. Like many US cities, Stamford had previously relied on an antiquated traf
  • FLIPPER - improving the provision of flexible transport services
    February 2, 2012
    John Nelson and Brian Masson, Centre for Transport Research, University of Aberdeen, UK, describe the FLIPPER initiative which is intended to improve the provision of flexible transport services
  • US adopts automated enforcement… gradually
    March 4, 2014
    The US automated enforcement market is in rude health as the number of systems and applications continues to grow and broaden. Jason Barnes reports. Blessed and cursed – arguably, in equal measure – with a constitution which stresses the right to self-expression and determination, the US has had a harder journey than most to the more widespread use of automated traffic enforcement systems. In some cases, opposition to the concept has been extreme – including the murder of a roadside civil enforcement offici