LANSING – Department of Transportation Director Kirk Steudle said Thursday that the changes in the automated mobility sector in Michigan, since roughly a year ago when the Legislature was first considering legislation on the vehicles, have been “almost mind-boggling,” detailing various partnerships across states and public as well as private entities.

The legislation passed by the Legislature and signed by Governor Rick Snyder to regulate automated vehicle technology and allow for tests on public roads has been “the most comprehensive, most far-reaching legislation in the entire country” to date, Steudle said. The only other state that comes close to Michigan is Florida, but even they have not legalized self-driving and ridesharing aspects of automated vehicle technology, he told Gongwer News Service in an interview.

“I’ve been contacted by my counterparts in probably 10 other states for that legislation, and in three weeks there’s a webinar we’re putting on about that legislation to other states,” Steudle said.

But being such a leader in that sector has brought a lot of opportunity for partnerships and the need to set both near-term and mid-term goals related to automated vehicle technology.

He said the American Center for Mobility, which is leading Michigan’s testing and educational efforts in Ypsilanti at the former Willow Run airport, is up and running, staffed, and in the process of multiple construction contracts. One of the most immediate goals there is to have a “high-speed loop” connecting the facility to the nearby freeway by December 1.

Federal regulatory authorities have also designated the area as one of only 10 test facilities in the country, which has also helped in terms of partnerships, Steudle said.

“We think it’s a premiere place … and we’ll prove it when we come to December or so,” he said.

His department, in conjunction with other related entities, has also prioritized funds to build a network of so-called “smart corridors” where vehicles can be tested in a real-time.

He pointed to Planet M as the “umbrella” entity for all ideas mobility in Michigan. The coalition includes some 376 private companies, at least two of the state’s three research universities, and some public entities.

“Planet M is that brand on all this mobility space,” Steudle said.

Already Planet M is working on trying to build partnerships through Ohio and Pennsylvania, especially Carnegie Mellon in Pennsylvania (which does a lot of automotive robotic work) on how they can work together to create a “smart belt.”

“If we bring all of our resources together and employ some of our grants to say that whatever happens, happens in the smart belt, not the rust belt … that’s the emphasis of what the smart belt is,” Steudle said. “I think there’s a tremendous opportunity to leverage federal opportunities and federal grants.”

While most of the work being done related to automated vehicle testing is on the ground, Steudle said a long-term goal is combine ground work with air projects like drones.

“That certainly is the long-term view of how do you complement the two?” he said in response to a question from Sen. Jim Stamas (R-Midland) on the matter.

Sen. Ian Conyers (D-Detroit) also raised a question about electric charging and integrating that throughout the smart corridors, to which Steudle said conversations are also ongoing there as the American Center for Mobility anticipates the eventual integration of the technologies.

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