Driverless Car Testing to Expand at Contra Costa

Burney Simpson

A second major auto OEM will be joining Mercedes-Benz at the giant autonomous vehicle testing grounds at the former Concord Naval Weapons Station in Concord, California, Driverless Transportation has learned.

The name of the new firm is being kept under wraps as the government agency overseeing driverless testing at the site seeks a license from the state of California that will allow another firm to test there. The current deal with Mercedes was announced last October and lasts for one year.

Randell H. Iwasaki, executive director of the Contra Costa Transportation Authority, said he hopes to announce the second firm at a March 31 event promoting the site. About 5000 acres of the decommissioned naval base have been set aside as a driverless testing ground, he said.

The Contra Costa site is about 30 miles northeast of San Francisco. The naval station was a built-out, active base until 2005. It offers nearly 20 miles of paved roads, a variety of cityscapes, numerous intersections with and without traffic signals, and straight and curved roads laid out in an urban grid style. The feature photo for this story is an aerial view of the station from Wikipedia.

The goal is to have three to five firms testing on the site, said Iwasaki. The transportation authority represents 19 cities in Contra Costa County, and acts as the facilitator and scheduler of the site, he notes.

While Iwasaki declines to name the second original equipment maker, Ford Motors in January opened a research center in Palo Alto, where it will develop autonomous vehicles and other high-tech systems. Concord is 55 miles from Palo Alto.

How long the former base will be available as a testing facility is unclear. Plans call for it to be turned over next year to the city of Concord and a local park district for development.

BLUE & GOLD

Another major autonomous technology testing area is preparing to officially open this summer.

The University of Michigan is developing the 32-acre M City, near Ann Arbor, Mich., through its Mobility Transformation Center. The site offers simulated city and suburban traffic scape with a five mile network of roads. The university partnered with Delphi, Denso, Ford, GM, Honda and Toyota to develop the grounds.

The university plans to eventually expand the testing capabilities to include the public streets of Ann Arbor and surrounding areas.