DriveOhio to monitor traffic and road incidents with drones

DriveOhio will use unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) to understand how to manage traffic, roadway incidents and roadway conditions along the 33 Smart Mobility Corridor from 1 July. The three-year project, valued $5.9m, is intended to complement autonomous and connected vehicle tests along the 35-mile stretch between Dublin and East Liberty.
June 8, 2018 Read time: 2 mins
DriveOhio will use unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) to understand how to manage traffic, roadway incidents and roadway conditions along the 33 Smart Mobility Corridor from 1 July. The three-year project, valued $5.9m, is intended to complement autonomous and connected vehicle tests along the 35-mile stretch between Dublin and East Liberty.


This study stems from a partnership between DriveOhio’s UAS Center and the Ohio State University College of Engineering.

The research will be carried out by air and ground vehicles while the drones will monitor traffic and incident response along with the state's fixed-location traffic camera system. The UAS will interact with sensors and communication equipment to feed data into the state’s traffic management centre.

Additionally, the initiative will use sensors and communication devices to ensure unmanned aircraft will not collide with each other or with small planes and helicopters.

Fred Judson, director of DriveOhio’s UAS Center, says: “This research project will make the development of that safety system a priority so that other aircraft operations such as package delivery and air taxi services can be explored down the road.”

Other members involved in the project include Cal Analytics, Gannett Fleming, Airxos, Gryphon Sensors, Transportation Research Center, Woolpert, the Ohio State University Airport and Midwest Air Traffic Control.

Urban Traffic Control

Related Content

  • Developments in urban traffic management and control
    February 1, 2012
    Mark Cartwright, Centaur Consulting, discusses developments in urban traffic management and control. Despite the concept of UTMC (Urban Traffic Management and Control) having been around for some years now, there remains a significant rump of confusion as to its relationship with its similar-sounding cousin UTC (Urban Traffic Control). To many people, the two are one and the same. However, this is not the case.
    Read More
  • Dynniq tests virtual tool for air quality evaluation and monitoring
    June 23, 2016
    An air quality evaluation system that utilises existing data has been modelled on the UK’s motorways and tested in Manchester as Peter Kirby and Paul Grayston describe. It has long been known that emissions from road transport are the principal source of NO2 pollution, especially in the urban environment, and that appropriate transport management can play a big role in meeting environment and public health objectives.
    Read More
  • Tatweer smart platform aims to reduce human driving error
    May 10, 2023
    System automates driving behaviour assessment to increase accuracy and cut costs
    Read More
  • Land of ITS opportunities
    February 2, 2012
    Geographically, Russia, the largest country in the world, is vast. So too are the opportunities for the global ITS community, which is why ITS Russia has been actively promoting the country and the opportunities that abound there. ITS Russia is reaching out around the world. In October, at the 17th ITS World Congress in Busan, South Korea, a cooperative agreement was signed with ITS America to promote and strengthen research, educational, and commercial cooperation in the ITS field among the two association
    Read More

Highlighted Content