The U.S. Department of Transportation recently awarded the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) an $8.4 million grant to test the safe integration of automated driving systems (ADS) into work zones.
Automated vehicles do not perform well in work zones and often require human intervention, PennDOT said in its grant application. The agency proposes using a combination of high definition, machine visioning, and mapping connectivity to develop a solution.
PennDOT plans to run through multiple simulations followed by testing on a controlled, closed-course. After successful testing is complete, researchers will safely integrate the solutions into limited, small-scale demonstrations.
“I am thrilled that the efforts of the department and our partners in the realm of automated vehicle technology have received national recognition,” Leslie S. Richards, Pennsylvania secretary of transportation, said. “Crashes in highway work zones have killed at least 4,700 Americans – more than two a day – and injured 200,000 in the last five years alone. If we can improve how AV’s interact with work zones, there will be significant safety benefits for the traveling public.”
The grant application was submitted along with PennDOT’s research team that includes PPG, Drive Engineering, Deloitte, the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission, Pennsylvania State University, and Carnegie Mellon University.