The U.S. Department of Transportation has identified 10 sites as officially designated proving grounds for autonomous vehicle testing in the U.S., including The Willow Run, Michigan-based American Center for Mobility; Concord, California’s GoMentum Station; the City of Pittsburgh and more.
The sites are designed to help the locations share best practices and information, forming a core community that Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx hopes will help spur the collective progress of autonomous vehicle
The proving grounds were narrowed from an applicant pool of more than 60, which included a range of different types of organizations, including privately held facilities, state transportation departments, municipalities and cities and academic institutions.
The choices, in the end, were made by the DoT based on a number of factors, including a healthy mix of conditions and facility types, with the aim of building a final designee list that can provide a range of testing scenarios and share that data collaboratively with one another.
Federal designation gives these initial pilot program members a chance to help set the national tone on autonomous vehicle and systems standard in the U.S.: They’ll likely be instrumental in helping the DoT establish its further recommendations and guidelines for companies developing autonomous vehicle tech, and help establish the process through which self-driving arrives on U.S. roadways for consumer and commercial uses.
Here’s the full list of all 10 pilot designated proving grounds:
- 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
- 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
