Atlanta Plans ‘Smart Corridor’ To Help Test Self-driving Cars
Driverless cars could soon be cruising the streets of Midtown — the first step in Atlanta’s embrace of the next wave of innovation in the automotive industry.
The city government wants to network roadside infrastructure such as traffic lights, cameras, road sensors and parking meters so they can communicate with each other and vehicles on the road, according to a filing Oct. 21.
The demonstration project, which would take place along North Avenue between the Georgia Tech campus and Ponce City Market, would be a critical step to eventually having cars autonomously drive around the city. It is part of the national “Smart City” program that Atlanta is participating in.
“The city is seeking to be a leader in autonomous vehicles and vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) (technologies) and…to leverage its Smart City program to deploy autonomous vehicles and V2I technologies,” according to the filing.
Autonomous driving has the potential to be as significant as the development of the internal combustion engine — affecting a plethora of industries, including insurance, logistics, housing, even city planning.
While self-driving technologies, that involve a suite of cameras, sensors and radar, are commercially available, more work needs to be done in connecting cars to public infrastructure.
Atlanta — a transportation and logistics hub — is well positioned to be a test bed for autonomous driving technologies. The city is home to autonomous technology research powerhouse Georgia Tech, logistics giants United Parcel Service Inc. (NYSE: UPS) and The Home Depot Inc. (NYSE: HD), and the headquarters of Mercedes-Benz USA and Porsche Cars North America. Both automakers have committed to development of self-driving technologies.
The Atlanta government has issued a Request for Information to solicit ways to allow for the “testing and deployment of autonomous vehicles systems in specific areas within the city.”
The city wants information on autonomous vehicles and vehicle-to-infrastructure technologies and seeks industry partners for the project.
Atlanta is investing in several Smart City initiatives, funded by a $250 million infrastructure bond. That includes the “smart corridor” demonstration project along North Avenue from Tech Parkway/Luckie Street to near Dallas Street.
That stretch of North Avenue has a robust mix of vehicular traffic, transit users, pedestrians and cyclists, said Faye DiMassimo, who is leading the Smart Corridor demonstration project.
“The corridor was chosen because it has multiple activity enters including Georgia Tech anchoring it on one end and Ponce City on the other,” said DiMassimo, general manager with Renew Atlanta. “In between, we have a MARTA station and a crossing with the Beltline.”
The first phase of the project will be a demonstration of how an autonomous vehicle is able to navigate the stretch of North Avenue using existing road striping and traffic signals.
A year later, the project will study vehicle-to-infrastructure technologies, where roadside infrastructure such as devices at an intersection can warn autonomous vehicles of red lights, excessive speed, or dangerous conditions.
A connected traffic management system can route the cars around accidents; sensors in the road can alert for black ice ahead; and “smart” parking meters can locate available parking spots.
As part of the North Avenue Smart Corridor project, the city will install fiberoptic cable to internet-enable cameras, sensors and traffic signals. A “smart intersection” demonstration is also underway within this corridor with live camera feeds providing traffic data collection and analysis.
Source: Atlanta Business Chronicle, Urvaksh Karkaria
Photo: The city government wants to network roadside infrastructure such as traffic lights, cameras, road sensors and parking meters so they can communicate with each other and to vehicles on the road, according to a filing Oct. 21.