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Driverless cars coming to Arlington streets — for research

Get ready, Metroplex; driverless cars may be keeping you company on your I-30 commute sooner than you think. "I think its really cool," says UTA student Mark Schmidt. "It'd be really nice to have around the streets." Dallas, Fort Worth and Arlington will soon be part of a federal partnership to test and research automated vehicles. They are amongst eight sites in Texas that will partner with the U.S. Department of Transportation and other organizations to do the research. "This is really...

Get ready, Metroplex; driverless cars may be keeping you company on your I-30 commute sooner than you think.

"I think its really cool," says UTA student Mark Schmidt. "It'd be really nice to have around the streets."

Dallas, Fort Worth and Arlington will soon be part of a federal partnership to test and research automated vehicles. They are amongst eight sites in Texas that will partner with the U.S. Department of Transportation and other organizations to do the research.

"This is really exciting for Texas because it really puts Texas at the forefront of this national development," says Christopher Poe, senior research engineer with the Texas A&M Transportation Institute.

Poe says what they learn while testing cars on our roads will end up contributing to national driverless car guidelines. Poe also says this area was chosen for a specific purpose. The I-30 corridor, known for traffic congestion, is perfect for the research. Its horizontal and vertical curvature is ideal for testing in varied environments. And the barricaded express lanes in the middle of the highway work well for safe, isolated research.

They may close those down for research on weekends.

"We want to make sure it works safely there in a very controlled environment before it starts being introduced into mixed traffic," Poe says.

UTA and its campus will also play a role in the search.

"I think it's great. And I think it's going to be a relevant thing," says Kristy Kittle. "Within the next 10-15 years, it'll be pretty common."

Arlington Mayor Jeff Williams offered this statement: “Arlington has a history of innovation dating back decades when we first recruited General Motors to bring its assembly plant to our community. We now have a Transportation Committee made up of our residents to push the envelope on technology and innovation to take our City’s transportation plan into the future. That’s why we were so pleased to play a role in the research and testing of Autonomous Vehicles. Technology like this will be the future and signifies great opportunity for transportation.”
It'll likely be a year or two before the driverless cars involved in this research join you on the road.

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