Self-Driving Cars: Preparing Our Communities for Tomorrow
Our state has positioned itself as a global leader for mobility and autonomous vehicle technology (self-driving cars).
Our state has positioned itself as a global leader for mobility and autonomous vehicle technology (self-driving cars).
The Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) shared that last week, Governor Rick Snyder and other state officials were joined by global transportation leaders at the Intelligent Transportation Society World Congress in Copenhagen, bringing Michigan’s work to the global stage.
This comes after the governor signed off on forming several international partnerships to support intelligent vehicle testing and technology development.
“We are committed to bringing all of the key stakeholders to the table to fuel the next generation of transportation,” Jeff Mason, CEO, MEDC said. “Michigan put the world on wheels, and we intend to continue to drive the industry forward into this next age of mobility.”
This aligns with MEDC's initiative PlanetM which is aimed at advancing the future of transportation in Michigan.
Michigan is also home to Mcity, a world-renowned research and development facility for autonomous technology which opened in 2015 as the result of a public-private partnership. It is supported by dozens of partners, including several CMF corporate members: Bosch, DENSO, Ford and General Motors. This work has led to the world’s largest deployment of vehicles in a connected vehicle test environment, totaling 1,500 in Ann Arbor.
The state’s latest promotional campaign, Choose Michigan, boasts that nearly 2,600 mobility-related patents have been awarded within the last five years.
While efforts are underway to accelerate the development and implementation of such technology, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, a CMF member, announced last week that they are committing $5.25 million to launch pilot projects in Detroit and four other cities in the U.S. to involve communities in the conversations and plans for self-driving vehicles.
The foundation shared that the work in Detroit will engage residents in addressing “challenges getting to/from busy stops that connect Detroiters to employment hubs.”
“Autonomous vehicles are one of the most disruptive technologies of our time, holding significant implications for the way we move, work and interact within communities,” Lilian Coral, director for national strategy and technology innovation at the Knight Foundation said. “Important conversations are happening among government and industry on what these changes mean for the future, but residents have largely been left from the table. Without their input, we risk designing cities for new kinds of cars, rather than for people.”
The Knight Foundation says this investment is the largest among its efforts to develop people-centered, “Smart Cities.”
“Knight believes that a true Smart City puts people first,” Sam Gill, vice president for communities and impact, and senior adviser to the president at the Knight Foundation said. “Self-driving cars have the potential to remake the face of cities. We want to work with city leaders to ensure those changes respond to residents — instead of putting residents at the whims of technology. Further, by involving residents on the front end, cities can facilitate a smoother rollout of new technologies and programs on the back end.”
The foundation shared that the strategies used in Detroit and the other cities will be used to inform best practices for other communities.
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Learn more about the Knight Foundation’s work.