The Michigan Department of Transportation wants your feedback on an experimental self-driving vehicle lane on I-94.
A pilot project is already set up along three miles of the highway. It's proposed to eventually span about 39 miles from Ann Arbor to Detroit.
The lane would be reserved for connected and automated vehicles, or “CAVs” for short. Connected vehicles aren’t quite driving themselves yet, but they’re equipped to talk to other vehicles.
The department is assessing the project’s impact on the environment and communities around it. It has released an 80-page environmental assessment report. The Green Sheet, on page 4-43, includes a summary of proposed plans to mitigate potential impacts from the project.
Anyone is welcome to provide feedback, said Michele Mueller, who oversees connected and automated driving technologies at MDOT.
“It can be commuting traffic, it can be people who live in the area, people who have businesses in the area,” she said. “It's wide open.”
The department is hosting three public hearings on Monday, December 2 at the Van Buren Township Hall. State officials will provide information about the project, including a presentation and answering questions.
If completed, the project would improve safety and decrease congestion along the heavily-traveled stretch of I-94 between Ann Arbor and Detroit, Mueller said. That’s because the technology used in automated cars reacts faster than a human driver, she said. That may not be the case for connected vehicles, according to recent research by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
You can also submit feedback via an online form, email or through the mail. The deadline for feedback is Thursday, December 19.
