Iteris, today announced that it has been selected by Rutgers University’s Center for Advanced Infrastructure and Transportation (CAIT) to support the design and implementation of the Middlesex County – Smart Mobility Testing Ground (MC-SMTG) in New Jersey, representing growing demand for Iteris’ specialized consulting services in a key geographic market.

Under the terms of the sub-contract agreement with Rutgers University for the multi-phase, multi-year program, Iteris will complete the concept design and testing in the initial phase, and participate as partner in the public-private-and-academic partnership (PPAP) team that will carry out the proposed construction and testing ground development phase.

The MC-SMTG will serve as the foundational element of an innovation hub in collaboration with the New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) that will attract public and private-sector researchers testing advanced driving system applications in real-world conditions while also serving as a source of high-resolution transportation data.

Consistent with NJDOT commissioner Diane Gutierrez-Scaccetti’s vision of ‘Commitment to Communities’, an initial focus of the project will be delivering easily accessible safety applications such as those offered by Iteris to improve safety and travel conditions in the corridor in the first year of operation.

Iteris will provide its design and safety application expertise to design and implement an environment for smart mobility application testing to address several key challenges for local communities along key corridors, including congestion, safety, environmental, energy and community equity issues.

The MC-SMTG is envisioned to become a core foundational platform for the New Jersey transportation community, positioning the state as a national leader in CAV innovations and supporting its pursuit of funding opportunities in the new era of smart mobility technologies.

“The MC-SMTG is a critical element in accelerating the delivery of the benefits that can be derived from these new smart mobility technologies, and the project will further establish Rutgers CAIT as a center of excellence in transportation innovation in the connected and automated vehicle arena,” says Dr Ali Maher, professor and director at Rutgers CAIT. “Iteris will play a key role as a supporting private-sector partner, providing its design, implementation and smart mobility application development expertise.”

“We are proud to support Rutgers University, NJDOT and Middlesex County’s forward-thinking CAV development and testing initiative with our design and smart mobility application development expertise,” says Dr Moe Zarean, regional vice president of consulting solutions at Iteris. “Iteris’ continued involvement in the growing connectedness of multimodal road users positions us well to help communities around the nation be ready for the future, and ultimately improve the safety and efficiency of our nation’s transportation networks.”

This project is in addition to several CAV deployments Iteris is already working on across the United States – including oversight of pilot deployments, smart work zones, advanced pedestrian detection and automated commercial vehicle inspections. Iteris also led the development and evolution of the U.S. Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) architecture reference for over three decades, initiating the Connected Vehicle Reference Implementation Architecture in 2012 and continuing to support the evolution of the combined ARC-IT for the US Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration.