Michigan Avenue could become the most advanced road in the world, replete with sensors, Wi-Fi, a dedicated lane for autonomous vehicles and traffic lights that communicate with vehicles and each other, under a public-private development program announced in Detroit on Thursday.
The goal is to make a 40-mile route from downtown Detroit to Ann Arbor the best place in the world to develop vehicles and services that make it easier, safer and more efficient for people, goods and services to get around.
Called CAVNUE — a mashup of connected and autonomous vehicles with avenue — the ambitious project is part of a strategy to make southeast Michigan a hot spot for developing the vehicles, which are expected to become a multibillion dollar business.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said building “the world’s most sophisticated roadway” would be part of a foundation for Michigan’s economic recovery from COVID-19.
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There’s no timetable for CAVNUE’s completion, but the first construction should begin within 24 months.
A 40-mile hot spot for new tech
“The mobility corridor will serve as a proving ground to test and innovate,” Ford Motor executive chairman Bill Ford said, standing nearly in the shadow of the Michigan Central train station his company is turning into the hub of a $750-million investment in autonomous, electric and connected vehicles. His vision for the center included autonomous shuttles carrying people up and down Michigan Avenue from Ford HQ and engineering centers in Dearborn to Michigan Central on the western edge of Detroit’s downtown.
“No place in the world is more important to transportation’s past, present and future than Detroit and Michigan,” Ford said.
Autonomous vehicles can operate partially or completely without a driver. Connected vehicles are a larger group that include vehicles that communicate with each other and infrastructure like traffic lights. Whether driven by a person or not, connected vehicles share information about traffic conditions, accidents, weather and other factors so they can pick the best route and move efficiently.
“Municipal transportation systems are very important as we start to deploy autonomous and connected vehicles,” said Sam Abuelsamid, principal analyst for Guidehouse Insights. “This could be a big benefit to everyone.”
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Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan said the idea for a road designed to test and improve future technologies arose from initial conversations that led to Ford buying the train station, which had been derelict for decades.
‘That road belongs on Michigan Avenue!’
Michigan Avenue, the historic road that originates in downtown Detroit and continues to Chicago, hasn’t officially been selected for the 40-mile test route, but its many lanes and status as one of the metro area’s main streets give it a momentum that will be hard to stop, though the CAVNUE will have to diverge from it to reach downtown Ann Arbor, 3 to 4 miles north.
“That road belongs on Michigan Avenue!” Duggan declared.
The first step will be digitally mapping Michigan Avenue and other possible routes with autonomous vehicles.
While completely driverless autonomous vehicles that can go anywhere are years away, today’s vehicles can operate on digitally mapped roads with connected infrastructure, said Jonathan Winer, co-CEO of Sidewalk Infrastructure Partners, the project’s lead developer. The company plans to build a mile of pilot road at the American Center for Mobility in Ypsilanti in the next 12 months. Winer said he expects people to be able to summon connected or autonomous vehicles on the routand know their pickup and arrival time on the route relatively soon.
“Detroit’s a brand. It means mobility,” said U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell, much of whose district lies along Michigan Avenue. “When Detroit does well, we all do well.”
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Contact Mark Phelan: 313-222-6731 or mmphelan@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @mark_phelan. Read more on autos and sign up for our autos newsletter.