Skip to main content

Chula Vista invites private sector to develop drone and AV programmes

The city of Chula Vista in California is inviting researchers to propose projects, partnerships and pilot programmes on unmanned aerial systems (UAS) and autonomous vehicles (AVs). The city has issued a ‘request for expressions of interest’ highlighting that city-owned facilities are now available to businesses and organisations. Eric Crockett, economic development director, says: “Chula Vista is the only city in the nation with federal recognition for both AV and UAS testing and validation in a real
March 7, 2019 Read time: 1 min

The city of Chula Vista in California is inviting researchers to propose projects, partnerships and pilot programmes on unmanned aerial systems (UAS) and autonomous vehicles (AVs).

The city has issued a ‘request for expressions of interest’ highlighting that city-owned facilities are now available to businesses and organisations.

Eric Crockett, economic development director, says: “Chula Vista is the only city in the nation with federal recognition for both AV and UAS testing and validation in a real-world environment.”

Available locations include an undeveloped 375-acre university site which is already being used by drone start-ups. For AV firms, the city is also offering 17,000 square feet of industrial space for vehicle maintenance.

“We’ve kept this solicitation as open-ended as possible because we want to encourage industry responses to be creative and innovative,” Crockett adds.

Related Content

  • Developments in travel information display systems
    August 1, 2012
    David Crawford looks at recent developments in travel information display systems. It is important to remember that we are investing in Real-Time Passenger Information [RTPI] to increase ridership," says Robert Burke, Managing Director of New Zealand transit tracking technology specialist Connexionz, which has been involved in at-stop and remote passenger information since 1995. "Superior information improves the perception of public transport reliability and gives the passenger more choices and greater con
  • Taxi sector to lead self-driving market by 2025, say researchers
    November 24, 2016
    New findings from Juniper Research reveal that the annual production of self-driving cars will reach 14.5 million in 2025, up significantly from only a few thousands in 2020, to give a global installed base of more than 22 million consumer vehicles by 2025. The new research, Autonomous Vehicles & ADAS: Adoption, Regulation & Business Models 2016-2025, found that the market adoption of AV (Autonomous Vehicle) technology is set to accelerate over the next few years, driven by: Increasingly stringent vehicl
  • Keeping an eye on cyberattacks
    March 24, 2022
    Hackers love an open door and ransomware attacks on transit agencies are rising. Ben Spencer examines a report by Mineta Transportation Institute on keeping personal data safe
  • Amazon keeps its head in the cloud
    December 17, 2021
    The days of Amazon just selling books may be long, long gone – but Randy Iwasaki of Amazon Web Services tells Adam Hill why the ability to tell stories still has an important place in a highly technical transport environment