Business Interests Spur Autonomous Vehicle Policy Moves in Wisconsin
Racine, WI, city officals felt they were “ahead of the curve” on traffic issues, until a business considering locating there asked about autonomous vehicle infrastructure. Photo: Peloton
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Racine, WI, city officals felt they were “ahead of the curve” on traffic issues, until a business considering locating there asked about autonomous vehicle infrastructure. Photo: Peloton
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Is a new trend developing where big business interests are pushing municipalities to develop autonomous vehicle infrastructure?
That seems to be the case in Wisconsin, where the Foxconn Technology Group, a Taiwanese multinational electronics contract manufacturing company, has prompted the city of Racine to study the possibility of developing special lanes for autonomous vehicle traffic on Interstate 94, which runs through the city.
According to Racine’s Centennial Journal newspaper, members of the Racine City Council reported that Foxconn, which is currently considering building a manufacturing facility in a semi-rural area near the city, is concerned about traffic congestion on the highway. The facility could ultimately employ as many as 13,000 workers, the report said.
The state has already allocated money to widen I-94 to eight lanes in the area, along with other local road improvements, which lead city leaders to believe they were “ahead of the curve” on traffic issues, according to Tim Sheehy, president of the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce, who was quoted in the story. “We were all dumbstruck,” Sheehy added, “when they looked at us and said, ‘So where’s the autonomous vehicle lane?’”
As a result of that conversation, the Journal Sentinel reports, Wisconsin transportation planners were asked to consider the possibility. The Department of Transportation is doing just that, a spokesman said Monday.
“Yes, it is something we are looking at,” said Michael Pyritz, spokesman for the department’s southeast region.
Pyritz said the process of evaluating and making final decisions on upgrades to I-94 and other roads near the planned Foxconn complex in Mount Pleasant “is a work in progress,” with many options being weighed.
“It’s on the table,” he said of dedicated lanes …Read the rest of this story
