Smart Mobility Advanced Research and Test (SMART) Center

Company Name: Transportation Research Center Inc. (TRC)
Location: East Liberty
Industry Sector: Automotive
Company Profile: Transportation Research Center, Inc. (TRC) provides a wide range of engineering, research and development, and compliance and certification testing for the mobility industry. With 40-plus years of engineering expertise and industry knowledge, TRC serves the needs of industries, governments, trade associations and educational institutions worldwide. TRC is located on approximately 4,500 acres in East Liberty, Ohio, 40 miles northwest of Columbus.

As North America’s most advanced automated and connected vehicle testing site, TRC operates 24/7 with a variety of facilities including road courses, wooded trails, a 7.5-mile High-speed Oval Test Track and a 50-acre Vehicle Dynamics Area. On this expansive facility, TRC conducts programs designed to test for safety, energy, fuel economy, emissions, durability, performance, noise, crash simulation and crash-worthiness. Programs evaluate performance of passenger cars, trucks, buses, motorcycles, airplanes, and off-road, tracked, alternative-fueled vehicles, and their components.
Company Website: https://www.trcpg.com

Project Summary:

Type of Project: Expansion

Number of Jobs:

• Jobs committed: 8
• Jobs retained: 328

Capital Investment: $45 million

Timetable: TRC announced construction of the SMARTCenter in January 2017, and groundbreaking took place on July 9, 2018. The center opened for operations just over a year later on July 10, 2019.

Company Need:

TRC is the largest independent automotive proving ground in North America. To include a state-of-the-art Smart Mobility Advanced Research Test (SMART) Center for the testing of advanced mobility technologies in a real-world environment, TRC needed to expand and develop its existing campus.

Why Ohio?

TRC decided to expand to create a state-of-the-art automated and connected vehicle testing facility on its campus in central Ohio.

TRC cut the ribbon on the SMARTCenter on July 10, 2019 and is now open for testing. The SMARTCenter is designed specifically to test advanced automotive and mobility technologies in a safe, secure and replicable real-world environment before vehicles are deployed on public roads and highways.

TRC’s SMARTCenter is designed to provide a high degree of flexibility in a variety of controlled real-world scenarios for all types of passenger and commercial vehicles. Supported by TRC’s many other service offerings, the SMARTCenter is the largest, most comprehensive contained testing site in North America for advanced vehicle technologies.

The site includes:

• the longest (1.2 miles) and widest (six lanes) connected, signalized intersection in the industry;
• an urban network consisting of movable intersections, roundabouts and oblique intersection scenarios;
• a 10,000-square-foot control building with garage and office space;
• full-site access to Dedicated Short Range Communications and high-speed wireless communication;
• an underground power distribution and fiber network to support current and future test technologies.

Over many generations, Ohio’s automotive industry has grown, laying a strong foundation for smart mobility to excel. Research partners, open road testing, smart intersections and more make up this living lab for connected and autonomous vehicle innovation. This is why Ohio is the best state to design, test and deploy smart mobility initiatives that are changing the automotive landscape.

Testimonial:

“Opening of the SMARTCenter – after more than five years of collaborative planning with our industry partners – provides an important enhancement to TRC’s robust portfolio of testing and research capabilities, serving to benefit those pioneering exciting innovations in connected and automated mobility. We are proud to inaugurate this new and unexcelled testing facility alongside Lt. Gov.Husted and officials from ODOT, DriveOhio, JobsOhio and The Ohio State University. The presence of these and our many other partners reinforces Ohio’s commitment to innovation and highlights our historic leadership in transportation technology.”

- Brett Roubinek, president and CEO, TRC Inc.

Collaborators:

Ohio State University, state of Ohio, Ohio Department of Transportation, JobsOhio and Columbus 2020