Driving Smart Transportation Research

David Noyce has spent his entire career researching transportation - in areas like advanced traffic operations, understanding driver behavior, and innovative technology like vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure communication. In this episode, we're talking all about the future of smart transportation and the research being done across the country to bring transportation into the realm of smart cities.

Cutting-Edge Transportation Research

For decades, Noyce has been performing cutting-edge transportation research at UW-Madison to help make our roads better and safer. In fact, his team helped develop the flashing yellow left turn signal that has vastly increased safety in those situations.

Some of the work we discuss includes:

• Research at UW's Traffic Operations and Safety Laboratory (TOPS)
• Wisconsin Driving Simulator Laboratory
• Wisconsin Connected and Automated Transportation Consortium
• Safety Research Using Simulation (SaferSIM) Center

Innovative Research Methods

Noyce's transportation research itself is fascinating, but the way it's performed is even more innovative, including simulation, smart devices, and collaboration.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison is home to the SaferSIM Center, where a full-scale driving simulator helps researchers study human driving behaviors in different scenarios.

This research is part of the national consortium of universities performing similar work, known as University Transportation Centers. These institutions share data and collaborate to drive the future of transportation technology and infrastructure.

In addition, the university is doing live research on Park street in Madison using smart sensors and smart devices to track driving behaviors and patterns. They're even working on a statewide basis with company partners who are helping to drive transportation innovation.

The Future of Autonomous Vehicles

Perhaps most exciting of all is the work David Noyce and his team are doing on autonomous vehicle research. UW-Madison has partnered with Gateway Technical College and the City of Racine to do research on a full-scale self-driving vehicle called The Badger.

Students and researchers will use The Badger to learn about autonomous vehicle technology, capture tons of data as it drives around Gateway's Racine campus, and develop the algorithms that will enable vehicles like The Badger to drive safely on our city roads.

Here's the big question: Will all vehicles be autonomous in 10 years?

Elon Musk predicted that in 10 years, you won't be able to buy a car that isn't self-driving. Does David agree? Listen to find out!