AASHTO Journal - Universities Working on Rural Automated Vehicle Study

Researchers at several universities across the country are studying how autonomous vehicles or AVs could benefit rural communities; areas of nation where transportation services are often limited.

[Above photo by UW-Madison]

The University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW-Madison) and Oklahoma State University (OSU) are the lead schools sharing a $15 million grant from U.S. Department of Transportation as part of a six-year project to develop AV solutions to improve mobility, such as enabling nondrivers to better access health care, groceries and other amenities, as well as helping people without vehicles commute to work.

That project – entitled “Tribal & Rural Autonomous Vehicles for Equity, Livability, and Safety” or TRAVELS – is divided into three phases, each lasting two years. The first focuses on identifying unique rural transportation needs, developing AV technology for rural environments and testing these technologies in rural areas. The second involves demonstrating and piloting solutions identified during the first phase. The final phase aims to deploy these solutions with private-sector partners.

“In addition to enabling AVs for passenger transport, we’re also working on critical technologies like high-precision mapping, communication between physical and digital infrastructure, and evaluating the policy impacts of AV adoption,” explained Tom Shi, an assistant professor leading the UW-Madison AV research team, in a statement.

He added that while only 19 percent of the U.S. population and a quarter of all Americans aged 65 and older reside in rural communities, roughly 47 percent of all roadway fatalities occur on rural roads – a safety issued AVs could also help address.

“There are many rural and tribal residents around the country who are unable to access medical and health resources due to lack of reliable transportation to community centers,” said Ed Kirtley, OSU’s associate dean of engineering extension, in a separate statement. “The project will result in tangible products, including the demonstration and deployment of AV services that directly benefit these communities.”

The success of this project is attributed to the significant support from various stakeholders, added Joshua Li, the associate professor leading the OSU AV research team – noting that the TRAVELS consortium includes seven academic institutions, five industry leaders in multi-modal AV technologies, and 34 transportation agencies.

Li’s team will play a key role in this project by focusing on infrastructure preparedness, along with the operational aspects of autonomous transportation.

“This includes physical infrastructure, such as roadways, lane markings and traffic signage, as well as communication infrastructure networks, such as V2X applications and connected vehicle systems,” he noted. Additionally, the team will contribute to developing digital twins and high-definition maps, which are critical for AV deployment in rural and tribal areas that often lack such resources.

“This has been a team effort and we received significant support from our federal delegates, the Oklahoma Department of Transportation, several regional transportation planning organizations, and tribal nations such as the Choctaw and Cherokee, among others,” Li said.