More than $224 million will be invested in Ohio’s 33 Smart Mobility Corridor by 2020.

Ohio’s 33 Smart Mobility Corridor demonstrates how smaller cities can leverage intelligent transportation technology to improve congestion, safety, and employment access.

Made Public Date
09/21/2018
Identifier
2018-SC00408
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Summary Information

Central Ohio’s NW 33 Innovation Corridor Council of Governments (COG)—comprised of Union County, the City of Marysville, the Marysville – Union County Port Authority, and the City of Dublin—offers an encouraging example to small communities interested in attracting smart mobility research and development. In 2016, the COG was awarded the $6 million Advanced Transportation and Congestion Management Technologies Deployment Program grant (ATCMTD) by USDOT. Since then, the area has seen more than $200 million in additional investment for the development of the NW 33 Smart Mobility Corridor – a 35-mile strip of U.S. Route 33 designated as a proving ground for smart infrastructure and autonomous vehicles. Regional players such as Honda of America, The Ohio State University, and the Transportation Research Center proved valuable as assets and sources of funding, but just as valuable as assets were the region’s weather and development patterns.

New proposed activities for the project include smart infrastructure installation, autonomous and connected vehicle testing, and data collection and commercialization. The application highlighted Route 33’s weather exposure, the opportunity to test vehicles in a closed setting at the local Transportation Research Center (TRC) as well as public roads, the ability to test in a variety of densities and environments, and the willing collaboration between state, county, and municipal entities to support the project’s complexity.
The following is a discrete list of elements which will combine to form the physical infrastructure of the US 33 Smart Corridor:

  1. Automated/Connected Vehicle Infrastructure-notably a redundant fiber optic cable loop, 62 roadside Dedicated Short-Range Communication (DSRC) units, and roadside video equipment and sensors--to support automated and connected vehicles.
  2. Dynamic signal phasing and timing, with DSRC units installed in 32 intersections, including all of Marysville’s lights and the balance in Dublin.
  3. A local smart network. This will include traffic signal equipment at all signalized intersections, pedestrian warning equipment at pedestrian crossings, and supporting IT and communications equipment including fiber optic cable and conduit and network devices.
  4. A connected test fleet of up to 1200 vehicles equipped with onboard DSRC units.
  5. A Pedestrian in Crosswalk Warning System in intersections identified by the COG.
  6. Connected vehicle applications (including Queue Warning and Speed Harmonization) to safely manage mobility in the event of accidents or weather conditions.
  7. Program management, maintenance and operations.


The TRC will be receiving the bulk of the investments. Within the 24/7 research facility’s 4,500 acres is a 7.5 mile high-speed Oval Test Track and a Vehicle Dynamics Area, among other testing grounds. The TRC will receive $45 million to build the first phase of a 540-acre Smart Mobility Advanced Research and Test (SMART) center within the grounds. Additionally, $124 million will be invested in an advanced wind tunnel facility for the TRC.

A breakdown of select infrastructure costs totalling more than $13 million is below:

Function Area Cost Item # Unit Cost Total Cost
AV/EV Corridor Installation and Traffic Signal Upgrades Roadside Units 62 $22,000 1,364,000
Fiber Optic Cable Install $6,000,000
Traffic Signal Upgrades 32 $10,938 $350,000
Local Smart Network 1 $750,000 $750,000
Pedestrian Warning Systems 8 $22,000 $176,000
Pedestrian Detection Systems 8 $30,000 $240,000
Vehicle Installation and Application Development Vehicle Installation 1200 $2,500 $3,000,000
App Dev: INFLO 1 $283,000 $283,000
Public Recruitment and Engagement INFLO 1 $300,000 $300,000
Program Management, Operations and Maintenance Distributed Data Network; Project Mgmt., O&M 1 $1,009,500 $1,009,500
System Cost

Smart Mobility Corridor: $224 million (in 2017 dollars)