SMARTTrack stands for Safety, Mobility, and Autonomy Research and Testing Track. The proposed Texas SMARTTrack will be a world class proving ground that brings university researchers, transportation agencies, community, and the industry together to improve traffic safety, operations, and management through smart transportation infrastructure and connected and automated vehicles.
Texas SMARTTrack will be located on UT’s Pickle Research Campus (PRC), and preliminary designs include three tiers of testing:
- Tier 1 is a closed course facility for testing edge cases and other scenarios that cannot be performed on a public road.
- Tier 2 is designed to carry out research and testing that does not pose a risk for public users of the roadway. Several portions of the existing roads on PRC are being evaluated to best represent test scenarios.
- Tier 3 is on public roadways owned by the City of Austin, TxDOT, CTRMA and others. Texas SMARTTrack is proposed to include installation of sensors and communication devices along the roads in this Tier to stream data into a centralized research facility at PRC.
