U.S. Designates 10 Sites for Testing Autonomous Vehicles

The U.S. Department of Transportation recently designated 10 “proving grounds” to encourage safe testing of automated vehicle technologies.

“The designated proving grounds will collectively form a Community of Practice around safe testing and deployment,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx. “This group will openly share best practices for the safe conduct of testing and operations as they are developed, enabling the participants and the general public to learn at a faster rate and accelerating the pace of safe deployment.”

The 10 designated sites are:

• City of Pittsburgh and the Thomas D. Larson Pennsylvania Transportation Institute
• Texas AV Proving Grounds Partnership
• U.S. Army Aberdeen Test Center
• American Center for Mobility (ACM) at Willow Run, Michigan
• Contra Costa Transportation Authority (CCTA) & GoMentum Station
• San Diego Association of Governments
• Iowa City Area Development Group
• University of Wisconsin-Madison
• Central Florida Automated Vehicle Partners
• North Carolina Turnpike Authority

The proving grounds are expected to also provide insights into optimal big data usage through automated vehicle testing.

The sites were selected from a group of over 60 applicants that included academic institutions, state Departments of Transportation, cities, and private entities and partnerships. The proving grounds all have different facilities that can be used to gauge safety, manage various roadways and conditions and handle various types of vehicles, according to DOT.