Driverless Cars Could Be Tested on Maryland Roads

HANOVER, MD — Driverless cars could be tested at the port of Baltimore, Baltimore Washington Airport and on portions of the Interstate 95 corridor between College Park and the Aberdeen Proving Grounds in a year if Maryland is selected as a testing site for the technology. State officials said Wednesday that they have applied for areas to be used as proving grounds for automated vehicles, in hopes that it leads to economic development projects.

If selected as a test area, driverless cars would be on Maryland roads after Jan. 1, 2018. Some 220 million connected vehicles could be on the nation’s highways within five years. In September, Tesla, Ford and other automakers got the green light to speed ahead with driverless technology.

“The I-95 corridor in Maryland is the ideal one-stop-shop for real-world testing and deployment of autonomous vehicles,” said Maryland Transportation Secretary Pete Rahn. “This corridor is strategically positioned along the thriving east coast and combines a wealth of existing facilities, along with unique testing opportunities at the Port of Baltimore and BWI Airport.”

When the U.S. Department of Transportation issued federal policy for automated vehicles, the agency called the move a safety advancement.

“Automated vehicles have the potential to save thousands of lives, driving the single biggest leap in road safety that our country has ever taken,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx. “This policy is an unprecedented step by the federal government to harness the benefits of transformative technology by providing a framework for how to do it safely.”

Maryland’s proposal includes the I-95 corridor from Aberdeen Proving Ground to the Fort Meade/University of Maryland region, and includes multiple public roadways, the Helen Delich Bentley Port of Baltimore, BWI Airport, and existing research and testing facilities throughout the region.

Maryland’s proposal takes advantage of existing development, testing, partnerships and investments in driverless car technology along the I-95 corridor and includes:

• Existing facilities already developing and testing AV technologies, including Aberdeen Proving Ground in Harford County, the Center for Entrepreneurship in Howard County, and the University of Maryland’s Center for Advanced Transportation Technology Laboratory in Prince George’s County;
• MDOT-owned facilities to provide future simulated and real-world testing environments, including the electronic toll lanes along I-95, the Port of Baltimore for freight operations, and BWI Marshall for passenger shuttle transportation; and
• Private-sector companies already planning development and manufacturing of AV components within the next two years.

“We are in the process of developing clear policies and procedures for companies eager to test AV technologies on public roads in Maryland,” said Christine E. Nizer, MDOT’s motor vehicle administrator. “Self-driving vehicles have the potential to transform how we live and work, and while we are open for business and eager to realize the life-saving and economic benefits of this innovative technology, we will always ensure safety comes first.”

The state's application suggested that driverless vehicles could move freight to and from the port of Baltimore and to shuttle passengers to and from BWI, reports The Baltimore Sun. Another area of study would be how toll systems like those on I-95 and the ICC work with driverless vehicles and how the technology can communicate with traffic signal systems on roads like U.S. 1 and U.S. 40.

Maryland has no laws governing driverless cars, but cars must meet certain safety standards. Tesla's Model S — which has an autopilot feature — meets state regulations, but Google's self-driving cars, which don't have steering wheels, do not, Nizer told the Sun.

Last year, Tesla unveiled its computer-controlled driverless car that uses an autopilot system, that while trendy, still required a level of driving skill. Within a year of the Tesla announcement, the autopilot system resulted in several crashes and one traffic fatality.

In May 2016, Michigan-based Fiat Chrysler Automobiles announced it was equipping Pacifica minivans with Google’s self-driving car technology that came as a result of a deal between the two companies. Currently, Detroit-based General Motors is working on technology similar to Tesla’s it is calling Super Cruise. However, the automaker delayed the introduction of the new feature on the Cadillac CT6 until the 2017 models were introduced late this year.

The Ford Motor Company says it plans to have a fully functional and safe driverless car on the road by 2021.

Image credit: gmanviz via Flickr / Creative Commons