Skip to main content

Colorado governor announces Connected and Autonomous vehicles day

Colorado’s governor Jon Hickenlooper declared 4 December as Connected and Autonomous Vehicle Day following a visit with civic leaders and corporate executives to an autonomous vehicle (AV) technology demonstration at Panasonic’s Denver facility. Through a new partnership it plans to deploy AV technology next to the building, in Spring 2018. The event also featured EasyMile’s autonomous shuttle inaugural journey to Peña Station as well as the opening of its new North American headquarters.
December 11, 2017 Read time: 2 mins
Colorado’s governor Jon Hickenlooper declared 4 December as Connected and Autonomous Vehicle Day following a visit with civic leaders and corporate executives to an autonomous vehicle (AV) technology demonstration at 598 Panasonic’s Denver facility. Through a new partnership it plans to deploy AV technology next to the building, in Spring 2018. The event also featured 8246 EasyMile’s autonomous shuttle inaugural journey to Peña Station as well as the opening of its new North American headquarters.


Enabled by the AV legislation, other partners involved in the project include the Colorado Department of Transportation, the City and County of Denver, and Regional Transit District (RTD).

The demonstration shared real-time data across vehicles, infrastructure and people with the intention of improving safety and mobility on the road.

EasyMile’s autonomous shuttle offered a practical application of first- and last-mile connections with existing public transit systems. Scheduled to be in service in late Spring/ Summer of next year, it will connect RTD’s 61st and Pena Station light rail station to bus routes on Tower Road.

Hickenlooper, said: “Colorado’s reputation as a hub for advanced technologies takes a significant step forward today with EasyMile’s opening of their North American headquarters and aligning with the state's partner Panasonic. We are proud to be called the home to one of the world's leading autonomous transportation firms. By launching this first-of-its-kind connected vehicle program, we are rapidly leveraging transportation technology to improve safety and mobility on our roadways.”

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Phoenix rises to the Smart City challenge
    December 10, 2015
    Andrew Bardin Williams looks at the City of Phoenix where voters backed a $30bn plan to revamp its transportation network to cultivate a more connected community. According to a Land Use Institute study, half of all Americans and even more millennials (63%) would like to live in a place where they do not need to use a car very often. The City of Phoenix is putting in place plans to revamp its urban development and transportation policies to meet these changing quality of life perceptions.
  • CRASH Predicts ‘unpredictable’ in traffic incidents
    November 11, 2015
    Road crashes are not as random as they may appear and analysing data can reveal patterns that can help various authorities target their resources more accurately. David Crawford reports. Figures from the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) show that in 2013 there were 32,719 people killed on American roads and 2.31 million injured. While these form part of an overall 25% drop over the decade from 2004, US Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx continues to stress that reaching the procl
  • ITS America 2021: best of both worlds
    April 29, 2021
    ITS America’s rearranged Annual Meeting will take place in Charlotte, North Carolina, in early December. It is going to be Covid-safe and full of great content – both in-person and online
  • Dubai trials autonomous vehicles
    November 16, 2016
    The Dubai Roads and Transport Authority (RTA), in collaboration with Dubai Properties, has recently begun the trial operation of autonomous vehicles, each capable of carrying ten passengers, within the Business Bay District over a 650 metre-long track. This follows the success of the first and second phases of the trial operation of smart vehicles in the Dubai World Trade Center and the Mohammed bin Rashid Boulevard. The electric-powered smart vehicle is designed to move within closed internal roads in a