Environment for automated vehicle pilots

Chicago, IL - HERE, the Open Location Platform company, and the Iowa Department of Transportation (Iowa DOT) announced today a multi-phase project to develop automated vehicle and freight movement technologies on a portion of I-380 from Iowa City to Cedar Rapids.

The integrated automated vehicle and freight movement corridor on I-380 is a critical element of the Iowa DOT initiative to develop a cutting edge, ready- for-implementation, platform for connecting and guiding automated vehicles based on high-definition (HD) mapping assets, predictive travel modeling and cloud-based infrastructure.

"This project lays the foundation for the future of transportation and mobility in Iowa. We are going to tackle the key technical and practical challenges of connected and automated vehicle deployments in real-world conditions," said Iowa DOT Director Paul Trombino III. "Iowa is a producer state. Many of our goods leave our borders, making our transportation infrastructure the lifeblood of our economy. We are focused on leveraging advanced technology to create a more efficient and safe road network for intermodal mobility and increased economic development opportunities."

To fulfil its objectives, the project will leverage the HERE Open Location Platform, the new generation of HERE's location platform, as well as the platform services HERE HD Live Map, HERE Predictive Traffic and HERE Real-Time Traffic. The HERE technologies and services allow Iowa to develop vehicle-to-infrastructure communication; static and dynamic mapping data for vehicle automation; real-time traffic monitoring; and localized safety information for the traveling public and commercial fleets along the I-380 corridor.

"Iowa is taking a leadership role in answering important questions about how transportation agencies prepare for and facilitate the adoption of automated vehicles," said Monali Shah, Director of Global Intelligent Transportation at HERE. "We look forward to leveraging our advanced location technologies to help human drivers drive more effectively today and enable automated vehicles as they become available."

Iowa DOT, HERE and a host of state and private partners are bringing together the technologies, data sources and solutions needed to make connected and automated driving a reality.