The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) awarded $7.5 million in grant funds to the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) this week, for use by it and its consortium and partners to create a statewide demonstration plan to test and deploy automatic driving system (ADS) technology.
“This is great news for Ohio and will help ensure that the state’s transportation technology ecosystem becomes a model for the country. I applaud Secretary Chao for providing Ohio with the resources to invest in a statewide demonstration plan,” U.S. Senator Rob Portman (R-OH) said. “The Transportation Research Center is playing a big role in helping Central Ohio to become a leader in using smart transportation to help create economic growth and expand opportunity, and now they’ll be able to work in partnership with ODOT, The Ohio State University, and DriveOhio to expand what they’ve learned in Central Ohio to the rest of the state. During my visit in August, I was pleased to see how the SMARTCenter will be testing vehicles in a safe and secure, real-world environment before they are used on public roads and highways.”
Portman, along with U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and the entire Ohio delegation of the House of Representatives, had previously written U.S. Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao in support of an ODOT application for these funds. Now, those funds will benefit the integration of rural, suburban, and urban environments into a larger statewide transportation technology system.
“These funds will help keep Ohio at the forefront of research and innovation,” Brown said. “Developing and integrating emerging transportation technologies now will allow us to invest in our infrastructure for generations to come.”
Members of this collaborative effort include the Transportation Research Center Inc., Ohio State University and DriveOhio, along with partners at the University of Cincinnati, the City of Youngstown and the City of Athens.