Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, January 27, 1994 TAG: 9401270062
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MICHAEL STOWE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
"Obviously, it would create a very large incentive for the state to provide some construction funds" for the smart road, said Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Abingdon, chairman of the science subcommittee of the House Science, Space and Technology Committee.
Virginia Transportation Commissioner Ray Pethtel said Tuesday that his department was teaming with a U.S. automaker to apply for the multimillion-dollar Federal Highway Administration project to build smart cars.
The cars would contain computers, video displays and other technology to improve safety, increase speed and keep drivers from getting lost.
Pethtel could not be reached Wednesday, but sources - including Boucher - confirmed that General Motors hopes to be the state's partner in building cars of the future.
General Motors spokesman Jerry Bishop said he could not comment because the company's expert in what is called Intelligent Vehicle/Highway Systems was out of the country.
Lyle Saxton, director of the Federal Highway Administration's office of safety and traffic operations, said project guidelines require a transportation agency, automaker, highway-design firm and vehicle-electronics company to be involved in any consortium that applies for the funds.
A proposal that couples Virginia and General Motors certainly would be a top contender for the project, Saxton said.
"I don't know how many will apply . . . but I don't expect more than three or four," he said. "This is quite complex. It's not just a trivial thing to get a proposal together."
Saxton said the two other major U.S. automakers, Ford and Chrysler, have expressed only limited interest in the project.
Paul Reagan, who works for the science subcommittee, said General Motors would pick the consortium's two other main participants.
The application deadline for the project is March 18.
Sam Subramaniam, assistant director of the Virginia Tech Center for Transportation, said the university expects to be a major player if the partnership lands the project.
"This a very high-profile project," he said. "The center has been involved in this type of research for a long time."
Subramaniam said the smart road, which would link Blacksburg and Interstate 81, should be one of the selling points in the state's application for the project.
Naturally, he hopes it will persuade lawmakers to allocate construction money.
"It would be another reason for justifying funds," he said.
Some planning and engineering for the six-mile link - estimated to cost $50 million for two lanes - has been completed, but no money has been allocated to build the road, which would be filled with fiber-optic sensors.
Money for the project will not come from the state's general road construction fund. Instead, it will come from nontraditional sources such as federal grants or a state bond issue. In 1992, partial funding for the link was included in a $28 million bond package that eventually was shot down by Gov. Douglas Wilder.
In 1993, Tech was named one of the country's three Research Centers of Excellence in Intelligent Vehicle/Highway Systems of America, along with the University of Michigan and Texas A&M.
Saxton said securing the grant would solidify Tech's position as one of the country's top intelligent-vehicle research centers.
by CNB