U.S. Department of Transportation Awards $6 Million Grant to Advance Northwest US 33 Smart Mobility Corridor
DUBLIN, Ohio and MARYSVILLE, Ohio, Oct. 10, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) has awarded a $5,997,500.00 million grant to the City of Dublin, the City of Marysville and Union County for the advancement of the Northwest U.S. 33 Smart Mobility Corridor. The USDOT grant will provide funding for Dedicated Short Range Communications (DSRC) along the corridor for connected vehicle and autonomous vehicle testing and research.
The NW US 33 Smart Mobility Corridor is home to 50+ automotive related companies including Honda manufacturing, R&D operations and The Ohio State University's Transportation Research Center that includes a 7.5-mile automotive test track. The expansion of fiber-optics and smart mobility apparatus along the corridor will solidify the importance of technological advancements in smart mobility for the automotive sector.
"The vision for this project is being realized thanks to an unprecedented collaboration between cities, counties, the State of Ohio, The Ohio State University, private partners and the critical funding provided by this federal grant," said Dublin CIO Doug McCollough. "We are now in a position to expand the region's efforts as a "Smart City" with a smart mobility technical plan and connected vehicle testing from Columbus, through Dublin and Marysville, to Honda and the Transportation Research Center in East Liberty, OH."
The City of Columbus "Smart Columbus" vision won the U.S. Department of Transportation $40 million Smart City Challenge in June after competing against 77 cities nationwide. Smart Columbus includes testing autonomous vehicles at Easton and connected vehicle technology in in a number of Columbus locations. The City of Columbus is matching the USDOT grant with its own funds, along with $90 million in pledges from public and private sector partners.
"The impact of the NW US 33 Smart Mobility grant, along with the Smart Cities grant, continues to position the region and Ohio as a technology leader in the broadband economy," said McCollough.
Regional Partner Comments
Union County
"With the collaboration among and between so many public, private and institutional partners, the Union County Commissioners look forward to the deployment of fiber-optics and smart mobility technology along the NW US 33 Corridor. The financial support from the Ohio Department of Transportation and USDOT will assist in propelling our area to the forefront in smart mobility development," said Steve Stolte, Union County Commissioner. Stolte noted this grant received bi-partisan support from Senator Rob Portman, Senator Sherrod Brown, Representative Pat Tiberi, Representative James Jordan and Governor John Kasich.
City of Marysville
"The City of Marysville is honored to be a partner with the City of Dublin and the Union County Commissioners along with other organizations such as Honda of America, the Transportation Research Center, The Ohio State University, Battelle Memorial Institute, ODOT and USDOT in the development of what will be one of largest deployments of DSRC units along an urban, suburban and rural corridor," said Marysville City Manager Terry Emery.
Honda of America
"With this federal grant leading to the creation of the Smart Mobility Corridor, Honda looks forward to working with all of the partners to effectively analyze vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communications that will help us realize the connected and automated vehicles and infrastructure of tomorrow," said Frank Paluch, president of Honda R&D Americas, Inc.
The Ohio State University
"We are elated that the federal government has joined all of us in recognizing the potential this region has to demonstrate to the nation how utilization of emerging technologies can play a role in increasing safe transport and sustaining economic vitality," said Co-Director Honda/OSU Partnership Joanna Pinkerton, PE.
City of Columbus
"I congratulate the City of Marysville, Union County and the City of Dublin on this big win," said Columbus Mayor Andrew J. Ginther. "This further demonstrates that the Columbus region has some of the best and brightest minds in transportation. The NW US 33 Smart Mobility Corridor replicates the principles and ideas Smart Columbus will be piloting during the next several years, and I look forward to our continued partnership and sharing all our lessons learned with the world."
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SOURCE City of Dublin
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