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Ohio groups to pump $45M in self-driving vehicles
By Marc Kovac
COLUMBUS
State groups would pump about $45 million into efforts to research and develop self-driving vehicles, among other policy changes planned as part of transportation spending plans over the next two fiscal years.
The total would include $12.5 million from the state, $25 million from Ohio State University and $7 million from JobsOhio, the private nonprofit that spearheads Ohio’s economic development efforts.
The investment would be directed to the Transportation Research Center near East Liberty to extend that facility’s smart highway research capabilities.
Additionally, the Ohio Department of Transportation plans to pursue the expansion of Ohio’s “smart highways” systems, with funding for fiber, sensors, Wi-Fi and other infrastructure along Interstate 270 in Columbus and Interstate 90 between Cleveland and the Pennsylvania border.
The state already has a comparable smart corridor between suburban Columbus and East Liberty, near the central Ohio Honda plant.
“In the next couple of decades, there will be a sharp increase in the number of driverless vehicles, the number of connected vehicles and the number of smart mobility corridors,” said Jerry Wray, director of the Ohio Department of Transportation. “And Ohio is situated to be the epicenter of that movement, that transportation transformation that’s going to take place….”
Gov. John Kasich added, “We are the best testing facility in America. I want to be the best in the world, and this is a huge investment out there. … We’re going to continue to drive this.”
Wray and Kasich joined OSU and JobsOhio officials and others in announcing the funding and other budget proposals this week in Columbus.
The governor plans to unveil his executive budget Monday.
Other provisions that will be in the biennial transportation budget include a pilot project along a stretch of highway in Columbus that would implement varying speed limits throughout the day and allow on-shoulder driving and additional funding for the development of unmanned aircraft and drones.