Autonomous, electric and connected mobility is transforming the transportation industry, from the way freight and commerce is moved to the way people travel — and Ohio, including the Mahoning Valley, want to be ready when the revolution happens.

DriveOhio, the state’s center for smart mobility, is “continuing every day to perform research and demonstrate automated and connected vehicle technology … we have a few pilot and demonstration projects for automated vehicles,” Preeti Choudhary, the agency’s executive director, said.

In rural Vinton and Athens counties, automated trucks have been rolling on roads since late February as part of DriveOhio’s Rural Automated Driving Systems project. Automated passenger vehicles are on the road, too, but might not yet be operating autonomously yet.

Meanwhile, a 35-mile stretch of U.S. Route 33 near Columbus is serving as a real-world proving ground for automated and connected vehicle technology.

But that’s not all happening in Ohio, and here in the Mahoning Valley: Youngstown is in line for a self-driving shuttle that’s part of a multimillion project to improve the downtown; the Western Reserve Transit Authority is working toward launching a project to test its own driverless shuttle, too; and there’s an innovative plan to bolster the area’s robust distribution, warehousing and logistics industry through autonomous and connected mobility.

THE VALLEY

The autonomous shuttle will circulate downtown, linking riders to anchor institutions like St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital, Youngstown State University and the Covelli Centre.

It’s hoped to be up and running next year, said Jim Kinnick, executive director of Eastgate Regional Council of Governments, the agency that led the successful grant application to secure $10.8 for the downtown improvement project.

The shuttle will benefit moving people around a growing downtown, but also it provides value “of being a place where researchers can come and test and develop the technology and advance the next generations of the technology,” Guy Coviello, president / CEO of the Youngstown / Warren Regional Chamber, said.

“I think that is a big value for us,” he said.

Coviello and Kinnick agree the next big chase is for what’s called a LIVE (Logistics Innovation and Vehicle Electrification) Zone in the Lordstown area to try to bolster the region’s already bona fide logistics and warehouse / distribution presence.

“We say that the shuttle is coming and we’ll be, I believe, the second city in the state of Ohio to implement a driverless shuttle, but we really want to be the first part of the state that implements intermodal with autonomous truck delivery to distribution or warehouses or supply chain companies,” Kinnick said.

Coviello said: “That’s an area of focus because the logistics industry is a significant part of our economy. Electrification, autonomous mobility, connected mobility, those are causing significant industry disruption, and so we have to focus on that so we continue to be a big player in that industry.”

The LIVE Zone is a nearly $25 million concept to capitalize on the Valley’s location — at the intersection of multiple modes of transportation, broadband and vehicle electrification.

The project includes an automated transfer yard, electric vehicle charging stations, an automated electric truck circulator to connect freeway and rail corridors and a last-mile transportation service for regional transit rides to their jobs.

There have been unsuccessful attempts to win federal grant dollars to put the project in motion, but Coviello believes it’s close “to becoming a good investment.”

“It could be transformational, not just because of the investment in the technology, but because of the volume of commerce that will be happening out there,” he said.

WRTA is working with its contractor, First Transit, on getting the vehicle made, Dean Harris, the transportation agency’s executive director, said.

But, there’s been a delay caused by supply chain issues and the manufacturer can’t meet the Buy American provision, which mandates at least 50 percent of its parts have to be made in America, “so we are working on getting another vehicle,” Harris said.

The proposed route for WRTA’s shuttle would start at Federal Station, go up Fifth Avenue and circle around St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital. Because of the stop at Federal Station, riders can connect to WRTA’s fixed route system.

WRTA received $2.3 million for the project. The vehicle will carry six to eight passengers and up to two wheelchairs, Harris said.

Harris said the service could be in operation by the end of 2023 if they are successful in finding a new vehicle. It depends, he said, on the autonomous hardware and software being installed in the new vehicle because “they have additional testing since it will be on a bus that has not had the equipment installed on it before.”

THE STATE

DriveOhio’s ADS project aims to show how connected and automated vehicles could improve safety for motorists in rural settings, terrain that includes curves, hills and in and out of shaded areas.

The project, funded in part with a $7.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation, focuses on 32 Ohio counties in the state’s rural Appalachian region.

“Application of this technology in rural areas has not been tapped into very much and hasn’t been studied maybe as much as how these vehicles perform in urban settings,” Choudhary said. “Performance in rural areas is important to us in Ohio and we want to make sure we can address challenges they might see there.”

The first of two deployments includes three passenger vehicles traveling on divided highways and rural two-lane roads in Athens and Vinton counties. The vehicles will be tested in different operational and environmental conditions, including during periods of limited visibility and while in work zones, according to DriveOhio.

When the automated driving system is engaged, it will control steering, acceleration and braking, but a professional driver will always be present behind the wheel to take over if needed.

The second deployment will feature two 53-foot platoon-equipped semitrailers connected with technology that allows them travel closely together at highway speeds. They are also equipped with radar to detect other vehicles.

“This technology allows the trucks to monitor and react to the environment around them in certain ways, such as following the lead vehicle and responding to slower moving traffic; however, human engagement in the driving task is critical. Like the first deployment, a professional driver will always be in the driver’s seat with their hands on the wheel,” according to DriveOhio.

The trucks will first be deployed on the 35-mile U.S. 33 Smart Mobility Corridor, specifically designed for testing smart and connected vehicles. Later this year, a private fleet will begin using the trucks in their day-to-day business operations.

The corridor has been outfitted with connected vehicle infrastructure — fiber optic cable and road sensors — “basically allowing for vehicles to communicate with ODOT and vice versa for us to be able to provide warnings and safety messages to drivers in the corridor,” Choudhary said.

Related is Connected Marysville, a partnership between ODOT, the city of Marysville and Honda to create one of the largest deployments of connected vehicles in the U.S.

Honda, which has an assembly plant in Marysville, is installing onboard units in vehicles of its employees who live in Marysville. The city and state, meanwhile, are installing onboard units in government and law enforcement vehicles as well as in vehicles of volunteers.

In addition, the city is installing smart and connected traffic signals that will use data from the vehicles to manage signal timing, detect pedestrians and prevent collisions.

“Connected Marysville and U.S. 33, the infrastructure is out there,” Choudhary said. “We’re working to equip more public vehicles with the technology that would allow them to receive those safety messages, but the Marysville fleet has that technology so we’re starting to see the benefits of that now.”

Along a 166-mile stretch in Interstate 70 between Columbus and Indianapolis is the I-70 Truck Automation Corridor, a project to advance the adoption of truck automation technologies in the logistics industry by integrating three levels of technology into truck fleets’ daily “revenue service” operations to deliver products across Ohio and Indiana, according to DriveOhio.

ELECTRIFICATION

DriveOhio also has a leading role in the deployment of electric-vehicle charging infrastructure in Ohio.

The state has $100 million over the next five years to support implementation of the EV charging stations. The initial focus in on interstate corridors, then U.S. and state routes. Once stations on federally required corridors are done, the focus will shift to other corridors, at state attractions and freight corridors.

Ohio already has four direct current fast chargers with at least 150 kilowatts per port. The plan is to add 30 more locations by 2025.

The investment “gives Ohio another opportunity to compete for the future of the auto industry,” said Lt. Gov. Jon Husted. “Leading in the automotive sector has been a priority for Ohio for quite some time, and as part of that goal, we’ll continue to work toward building up the EV workforce so that businesses have access to talent and Ohioans can secure a career in a new, innovative industry” in the state.

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