Detroit Free Press: Peters, Dingell want Willow Run to be self-driving test center

In another step to establish southeast Michigan as the hub of autonomous vehicle research, members of the Michigan congressional delegation have proposed that the American Center for Mobility be selected as a national testing and validation center.

Sen. Gary Peters, Sen. Debbie Stabenow and Rep. Debbie Dingell met Friday with Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx and Mark Rosekind, head of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, to pitch their idea.

Earlier this week, the Michigan Economic Development Corp. approved the $1.2-million purchase of 311 acres in Ypsilanti for the ACM. Located at the former Willow Run bomber plant, the center will become a testing facility for vehicles that can talk to each other and drive on their own.

But participation is voluntary, and there is no way to compel new entrants to the self-driving technology race to use the site.

NHTSA is expected to issue guidelines later this summer to maximize the safety of partial and fully autonomous vehicles. The idea is to require every manufacturer to meet common standards. Peters said a certified national center could standardize the testing process.

"In the past, every car company has had its own test track in order to maintain a shroud of secrecy around its future products," Peters said. "But in a world of V2V (vehicle-to-vehicle) and self-driving cars these vehicles have to talk to one another."

The proposal encompasses a bidding process through which similar research facilities would compete for the government certification. Those likely would include the Center for Advanced Automotive Research at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va.; the Transportation Research Center, a former Honda test track in East Liberty, Ohio, and likely some comparable location in northern California.

Designation as a national research center brings the possibility of federal funding. The American Center for Mobility currently is not eligible as a nonprofit organization.

"It will be a competitive bid, but I'm confident we would win," Peters said. "After all we have one big advantage — the opportunity to test this technology in snow and ice."

Automated and connected vehicles have ignited a wildfire of engineering and strategic relationships including such newcomers as Google, Tesla and Apple. Michigan is competing with Silicon Valley to attract expertise and capital to expedite the application of these new capabilities.

Conversely, automakers have expanded their presence in northern California to learn from the developers of sensors, guidance systems and software that are at the core of autonomous vehicle capability.