INSIGHT | Winter 2022
Spring is almost here and we're all ready for the fresh start a new season brings. But before we leave winter behind, take a minute to catch up with Mcity. Learn about new director Henry's Liu's plans and priorities for the center. Check out our latest white paper. All that and more in the Winter 2022 edition of Mcity Insight. We hope you enjoy it.
Training AVs to be safe, courteous begins with understanding how humans drive

Automated and non-automated vehicles will likely share the road for many years to come while driverless technologies evolve. But can robot drivers learn to be as courteous as we expect human drivers to be? An AV slamming on its brakes in a situation that poses no safety risk, for example, would not only annoy most humans but potentially create a safety hazard. Think of it as road etiquette for AVs. Researchers from Mcity and Toyota Motor North America's Collaborative Safety Research Center teamed up to study how data collected from real-world driving could help AVs learn to seamlessly share the road with human drivers. 

New Mcity director outlines vision, priorities
Henry Liu became director of Mcity in January. He wasted no time defining his vision and priorities for the public-private mobility research partnership U-M has led since 2013. Liu's goals for Mcity include deepening its focus on transportation equity and accessibility, nurturing innovative new technologies, expanding AV data collection to demonstrate the safety potential of connected and automated vehicles, and funding more multidisciplinary research projects that explore the societal impact of CAVs.


Mcity Staff Spotlight
U-M alum juggles mom, AV project leader roles
March is a time to recognize women's impact on the world. It's Women's History Month. Women in Engineering Week falls in March. And so does Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day. Mcity honors all women this month by celebrating one of our own: Mcity Project Manager Sarah Cicotte.
Mcity Test Facility isn't Ann Arbor's first AV proving ground. Bendix led the way
Over 50 years ago, Bendix Corp. built a test track for driverless vehicles that was located just to the east of where Mcity's test facility is today. In the photo on the right above, the Mcity Test Facility is to the left of what was left of the the Bendix track when the photo was taken in 2017.

Don't miss the 2022 CCAT Global Symposium

Registration is open for the 2022 CCAT Global Symposium. The symposium is hosted by the Center for Connected and Automated Transportation, a regional research center based at U-M and funded by the U.S. Department of Transportation. Mcity Director Henry Liu, also the director of CCAT, will open the conference and lead a panel discussion about the need for smart intersections to ensure safe mobility.

Mcity is a sponsor of the symposium. Learn more and register using the Read More link below.

LEADING THE TRANSFORMATION
TO CONNECTED AND AUTOMATED VEHICLES
Mcity at the University of Michigan is leading the transition to connected and automated vehicles. Home to world-renowned researchers, a one-of-a-kind test facility, and on-road deployments, Mcity brings together industry, government, and academia to improve transportation safety, sustainability, and accessibility for the benefit of society.