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US DOT makes more awards of autonomous vehicle research funding
19 September 2019IHS Markit Automotive Expert
(Excerpt)
The US Department of Transportation (DOT) has awarded funding to
eight projects in seven states to accelerate research and testing
of autonomous vehicle (AV) technology, reports Automotive News. The
US DOT has set up an Automated Driving Systems Demonstration Grants
fund, with USD60 million available to test integration of automated
driving systems. Earlier this month, the US states of Michigan,
Ohio, and Virginia received a total of USD30 million in grants from
the DOT. Now, four other states have been added to the list of
those receiving funding, comprising California, Iowa, Pennsylvania,
and Texas. The University of Iowa and the Texas A&M Engineering
Experiment Station both received just over USD7 million to test
automated driving systems to connect rural communities that lack
transportation options. The Contra Costa Transportation Authority
in California received USD7.5 million to develop shared AVs to
provide first-mile and last-mile access to public transit for the
elderly. The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation received
more than USD8.4 million of grant funding to study the integration
of AVs into work zones using connectivity and high-definition
mapping technologies.
Significance: The DOT is the government
department that also oversees regulatory agency the US National
Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), which is responsible
for developing and enforcing vehicle safety standards. Development
of autonomous vehicles and systems is expected to require both
public and private investment, as demonstrated by the DOT funding.
The DOT has begun a public consultation exercise on requests from
both General Motors (GM) and Nuro for regulatory exemption to
produce vehicles without a steering wheel or pedals. Last year, the
DOT issued updated guidelines on AVs and automated driving systems.
The guidance document is called 'Preparing for the Future of
Transportation: Automated Vehicles 3.0', or 'AV 3.0'.
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