The California Transportation Foundation (CTF) recently named the Shared Autonomous Vehicle (SAV) Pilot Program its Advanced Technology Program of the Year for 2017. The SAV Pilot Program is part of the GoMentum Station program in San Ramon, Calif.

Since March 2017, Stantec has been testing SAVs in mixed traffic through the Bishop Ranch business park. Two EasyMile EZ10 self-driving shuttles operated by First Transit have been testing at the park. The testing started in a closed parking lot, with plans to expand throughout the entire Bishop Ranch campus, including public streets, by 2019. This is the first pilot program of its kind in California and the first driverless shuttle to test on U.S. public roads.

“We’re pleased to see the California Transportation Foundation recognize the groundbreaking work that is being accomplished as part of the SAV Pilot Program,” said Arya Rohani, Stantec chief technology strategist. “The Bishop Ranch testing is truly moving shared autonomous vehicle usage closer to a reality in California and across the nation. Personally, I’m excited to see how significantly transportation is going to change in the next few years. The developments at GoMentum Station and Bishop Ranch will be part of that monumental shift.”

GoMentum Station is the largest secure testing facility in the U.S. for connected and autonomous vehicles. The facility provides a unique and varied terrain and infrastructure for testing the latest developments in transportation technology. Stantec is working with the Contra Costa Transportation Authority to bring together dozens of private and public-sector entities to test their technologies at the 5,000-acre former naval weapons facility. Among the partners at GoMentum Station are automobile manufacturers, Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM) and Tier 1 suppliers, communications suppliers, technology companies, researchers and academia, and public agencies.

On Jan. 17, 2017, the U.S. Department of Transportation selected 10 sites (from 67 applications) to be a designated an AV “proving ground” and GoMentum Station made the list. With this government endorsement, GoMentum is now one of the pioneering entities tasked with providing insights on big data, automated vehicle research, and future commercialization. OEM partners now testing at the facility include: Honda, Baidu, Otto/Uber, Toyota, and SAIC of China.