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

  • Dutch autonomous vehicle project to develop platooning
    December 1, 2015
    The i-CAVE (integrated Cooperative Automated Vehicles) research program, led by Prof. Dr H. Nijmeijer of the Technical University of Eindhoven and funded through a recently awarded grant of US$4.2 million, aims to develop vehicles that can run both autonomously on dedicated roads or cooperatively on public roads. i-CAVE focuses on all important aspects involved in the development of such dual mode systems. Other participants include Delft University of Technology and University of Twente, 2getthere, DAF
  • Growing use of video monitoring in traffic management
    February 2, 2012
    The county-wide expansion of CCTV coverage in Florida Department of Transportation's District Four is detailed by Citilog's Eric Toffin
  • Minnesota Department of Transportation to begin autonomous bus testing
    June 15, 2017
    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.
  • Integrated weather and traffic data aids winter maintenance
    October 10, 2012
    A US pooled fund study group has developed a system of software aimed at taking the concept of winter maintenance decision support to a new level – a scientific ‘one-stop-shop’ of weather and service performance data. This report is by Charles Chambers and Benjamin Hershey. With advancements in environmental technology come new systems that assist agencies with better management of winter roadway maintenance resources. In the late 1990s the US Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) began work developing a pr