STII discusses plans for an automated and connected vehicle test track

Since the Smart Transportation Infrastructure Initiative first announced its vision of changing the paradigm of transportation systems, especially in the areas of safety, mobility of people and goods, and reducing energy consumption and emissions, immense progress has been made and support for the initiative has grown, including for a proposed connected and autonomous vehicle test track right here in Illinois. 

Just last month, educational leaders from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, University of Illinois at Chicago, and Northwestern University met to discuss the future of STII and to tour the proposed site of the CAV test track.

Meeting attendees included Tamer Basar, College of Engineering Interim Dean, Susan Martinis, Interim Vice Chancellor for Research, Melanie Loots, Executive Associate Vice Chancellor for Research, Matthew Tomaszewski, Associate Provost for Capital Planning, and Imad Al-Qadi, Smart Transportation Infrastructure Initiative Director, UIUC; Jay Walsh, Vice President for Research, Hani Mahmassani, NW Transportation Center Director, Northwestern University; and Pete Nelson, College of Engineering Dean, UIC.

The track has been dubbed the Illinois Automated and Connected Track, or I-ACT, and supporters say its construction would help accelerate the development and deployment of self-driving technologies. Government leaders have been working alongside other STII members to prepare the more than 250 acres of land needed for the test bed near the existing Advanced Transportation Research and Engineering Lab in Rantoul.

During the discussion, STII members considered additional funding options for the initiative, both public and private. Additional partnerships between STII and other public and private organizations is also being considered.

A Request for Information was publically released by the Illinois Department of Transportation to gauge interest for and further understanding of STII among private sector companies. As part of the RFI process, STII and IDOT hosted a Project Information Day in Chicago in June. More than 50 industry leaders attended the event and engaged in additional plans to expand the initiative. Video of that meeting can be viewed here.

Also in June, Al-Qadi met with Peter Tschentcher, the First Mayor and President of the Senate of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, to discuss a potential collaboration between the initiative and the German city. This would officially stretch the influence of STII beyond the borders of the United States.

STII is also collaborating with leaders of the Discovery Partners Institute (DPI) in Chicago. DPI is a public-private organization dedicated to developing and deploying future technologies to improve the lives of people in Illinois and beyond.

Going forward, STII will focus on strengthening its internal collaboration with its academic partners, IDOT, and key industry leaders.

“STII members are committed to working together toward automated safe and sustainable mobility for goods and people using cutting-edge technology,” STII Director Imad Al-Qadi said.

For more information about STII updates, please visit our webpage.