Skip to main content

Michigan invites visits to Planet M

The Michigan booth here at ITS America 2016 San Jose introduces “Planet M,” a brand showcasing Michigan’s resources, leadership, partnerships and investments that make it the hub of mobility innovations. Visitors to the booth will learn how the state that put the world on wheels is leading the next generation of mobility.
June 14, 2016 Read time: 2 mins
Kirk Steudle of the State of Michigan Department of Transportation

The Michigan booth here at ITS America 2016 San Jose introduces “8439 Planet M,” a brand showcasing Michigan’s resources, leadership, partnerships and investments that make it the hub of mobility innovations.

Visitors to the booth will learn how the state that put the world on wheels is leading the next generation of mobility.

As the line between technology and transportation continues to blur, Michigan aims to resume its role as a worldwide leader. Detroit automakers and other Michigan manufacturers are driving investments and partnerships that merge advanced manufacturing experience with innovative new technologies.

The 1688 Michigan Department of Transportation and the Michigan Economic Development Corporation are investing in people, programs and projects that will transform the way manufacturers make vehicles and transportation agencies deliver services to meet the ever-changing needs of 21st century mobility.

Michigan is where big ideas in mobility are born as visitors to the booth will learn. Planet M represents Michigan’s legacy, its leadership and its future. And the state has much to offer. It is home to the largest deployment of freeway and surface street V2I technology in the United States. Michigan is also home to Mcity, a 32-acre connected and autonomous vehicle testing site that simulates urban and suburban environments.

In the final stages of approval, The American Centre for Mobility, a 335-
acre site, targeted to open in 2017, will provide additional testing and validation resources, including higher speeds and interaction with rail and flight.

Most recently, Michigan introduced a bipartisan package of bills that would allow self-driving cars to operate on any Michigan road and eliminate the need for a driver to be behind the wheel while in operation and also approved the creation of on-demand autonomous vehicle networks operated by manufacturers, for example General Motors and Lyft.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Ride-hailing firm Lyft highlights new bike-share service
    December 5, 2018
    Lyft, the ride-hailing firm which rivals Uber, has shown off the distinctive, pink-tyred bicycles which it is to use in its new bike-share programme. The company has completed its acquisition of US bike-share giant Motivate, which was announced in the summer, and will branch into two-wheel journeys soon. The company says this represents a “natural extension of Lyft’s vision to improve transportation access, sustainability and affordability”. Lyft says that 80% of all bike-share rides in the US were co
  • Missouri’s smart solution for rural road monitoring
    July 7, 2017
    David Crawford sees how Missouri is using commercially available information to rapidly improve monitoring and driver information on rural highways. Missouri is a predominantly rural state with the second largest number of farms in the country and agriculture the main occupation in 97 of its 114 counties. US statistics starkly reveal how road accidents in rural areas tend to be more serious than in urban regions and of the 32,000 US motorists killed each year, 54% die on roads in rural areas even though onl
  • Nissan, NASA to develop autonomous cars
    January 12, 2015
    Nissan Motor Company, through its North American-based organisation, and NASA have announced the formation of a five-year research and development partnership to advance autonomous vehicle systems and prepare for commercial application of the technology. Researchers from Nissan's US Silicon Valley research centre and NASA's Ames research centre will focus on autonomous drive systems, human-machine interface solutions, network-enabled applications, and software analysis and verification, all involving sop
  • Catapult develops C/AV simulation standards 
    September 23, 2020
    UK government agency expects work to strengthen projects with DfT and CCAV