Work has begun on the University of Michigan’s Mobility Transformation Center (MTC). Bosch, Econolite, Ford, General Motors, Toyota and Xerox have joined the center as its initial industry partners. Members of the Leadership Circle will each commit a total of $1 million over three years to support the MTC and its programs.
MTC will work with these sponsors testing products and identify new business opportunities.
It was reported that Xerox will work with information system management communication infrastructure.
Partners appeared at groundbreaking ceremony at the university, where a 32 acre autonomous driving test center is being built with all the features of a real city built with Michigan Department of Transportation
- Traffic signals and intersections.
- Three lane-miles of concrete and asphalt roads.
- Sidewalks.
- Roundabouts.
- Benches
- simulated buildings,
- Streetlights
- Obstacles such as construction barriers.
A full connected and autonomous vehicle system will be demonstrated in Ann Arbor Michigan by 2021. The system could reduce crashes, congestion and air pollution.
The grand opening for the MTC is planned for Sept. 12, 2014 during 2014 Intelligent Transport Systems World Congress in Detroit.
MTC is also developing three vehicle test deployments of up to 20,000 vehicles across southeastern Michigan to see how real drivers use technology.
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