Bendix has announced it is excited about and highly supportive of Ohio’s new Smart Mobility Corridor – coming in 2017. The Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) is equipping a 35-mile stretch of highway with high-capacity fiber optic cable and sensors that will help build a proving ground for a range of transportation innovations, including the types of connected systems that improve trucking and roadway safety.
“Bendix is always glad to see expanded support of research, infrastructure, and technologies to help make highways and vehicles safer – and this is especially welcome in Ohio, which has a prominent statewide presence in the trucking industry,” said Fred Andersky, Bendix director of government and industry affairs. “We fully expect to take advantage of this road to develop and test our advanced driver assistance systems and automated vehicle applications: Connectivity and complete, accurate data on a vehicle and its surroundings are among the keys to advancing performance of these technologies, and that’s exactly what this project will enable.”
Andersky noted that the company looks forward to working with the state, the Ohio Department of Transportation, and TRC (Transportation Research Center) to make this project a success.
The Smart Mobility Corridor will run along U.S. Route 33 from Dublin – northwest of Columbus – to East Liberty, home of the Transportation Research Center, where Bendix regularly tests its braking and safety systems. Work to install embedded and wireless sensors – in addition to the fiber optic network – along the route is scheduled to begin in May and last through summer 2017. Ohio Gov. John Kasich announced the $15 million project on Nov. 30 at an event in Dublin.
“Whether you’re talking about advanced driver assistance systems – such as collision mitigation technology, advanced automated driving technologies, including platooning or even autonomous vehicle development – it’s almost impossible to overstate the quantity and rigor of testing that’s essential in developing and improving these systems,” Andersky said. “The more real-world, on-the-road-gathered data that goes into them, the better engineered future generations of the technologies will be to support truck drivers and those on the road around them. All this has to be done with safety first and foremost.”
Bendix’s ever-growing portfolio of technology delivers on safety, as well as other areas critical to the success of fleets and owner-operators: reliability, performance and efficiency, and lower cost of vehicle ownership. By strengthening return on investment in advanced equipment and technologies, Bendix aims to improve safety for everyone sharing our roadways.
