State Promotes Efforts To Keep Highways Connected

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New technology is being installed on highways across Michigan to help the vehicles of the future stay connected. The Michigan Department of Transportation’s Matt Smith says Governor Rick Snyder this week got a demonstration of vehicle-to-infrastructure tech installed on I-69 in St. Clair and Lapeer Counties. He says, for example, the new tech enables the road to keep a convoy of semis informed on upcoming conditions.

“If the lead vehicle starts braking or taking evasive maneuvers, it can automatically start broadcasting that information back to the other vehicles in the convoy so those vehicle systems can automatically can adjust to the conditions that the first truck encountered,” Smith told WSJM.

The tech can also inform passenger vehicles of crashes or weather conditions ahead. Smith says Michigan is at the forefront of vehicle-to-infrastructure communications technology. It’s being implemented on key areas of Michigan highway to better prepare for the coming of autonomous vehicles. The state of Michigan is promoting its efforts to have connected infrastructure with a new campaign called Planet M.