U.S. Department of Transportation Awards $2.1 Million to the Virginia Port Authority of Autonomous Truck Ready Project |
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Federal Highway Administration
31 December 2020
FHWA 31I-20
Contact: Nancy Singer
Tel.: (202) 366-0660
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) today awarded a $2.1 million Advanced Transportation and Congestion Management Technologies Deployment (ATCMTD) grant to the Virginia Port Authority for the Autonomous Truck Ready project. The ATCMTD program this year awarded grants valued at $49.6 million to 10 projects that use cutting-edge technologies to improve mobility and safety for America’s travelers.
“This $49.6 million in grant funding will support innovative solutions to improve connectivity and help prepare America’s transportation systems for the future,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine L. Chao.
FHWA’s ATCMTD program funds early deployments of forward-looking technologies that can serve as national models. This year, in addition to ITS technologies to reduce congestion, the grants will fund projects that support autonomous and connected vehicle technologies.
“The program selections this year look to the future to help ensure that our nation’s highway network is able to accommodate the many advanced technologies on the horizon,” said Federal Highway Administrator Nicole R. Nason.
The Virginia Port Authority will establish the building blocks to make the Port of Virginia the first terminal in North America that is “autonomous truck ready.” The main goal of this project is to develop a proof of concept using a real autonomous truck to access the terminals and deliver and receive containers successfully.
The FHWA evaluated 46 applications requesting more than $205 million.
ATCMTD was established under the “Fixing America's Surface Transportation” (FAST) Act. State departments of transportation, local governments, transit agencies, metropolitan planning organizations and other eligible entities were invited to apply under the program. Now in its fifth year, the program has funded more than 45 projects worth $256 million.