The U.S. Department of Transportation selected San Diego County as one of 10 proving grounds for autonomous vehicles, the San Diego Association of Governments announced Friday.
Testing will take place on the Interstate 15 express lanes, the South Bay Expressway toll road and surface streets in Chula Vista, according to SANDAG, the regional planning agency.
"We are at the start of a new transportation era, and it's tremendously exciting for our region to be part of a national initiative to foster innovations and best practices that will enable the safe deployment of driverless vehicles," said SANDAG Chairman Ron Roberts, the county supervisor.
As part of the nationwide pilot, proving ground sites will bring together auto manufacturers, local cities, public agencies and private companies to test autonomous vehicles at designated locations. The test sites will share information and work together to see what works best.
"The designated proving grounds will collectively form a community of practice around safe testing and deployment," said Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx. "This group will openly share best practices for the safe conduct of testing and operations as they are developed, enabling the participants and the general public to learn at a faster rate and accelerating the pace of safe deployment."
Other locations and organizations that will take part in the testing are the city of Pittsburgh and the Thomas D. Larson Pennsylvania Transportation Institute, Texas AV Proving Grounds Partnership, U.S. Army Aberdeen Test Center, American Center for Mobility, Contra Costa Transportation Authority and GoMentum Station, Iowa City Area Development Group, University of Wisconsin- Madison, Central Florida Automated Vehicle Partners and the North Carolina Turnpike Authority.
