With a number of companies in the region already developing and deploying self-driving tech on the roadways, a new initiative is looking to help public agencies harness the power of those projects.
In an effort to make North Texas a hub of transportation tech, the North Central Texas Council of Governments is partnering with the Texas Research Alliance and a number of local universities to launch the North Texas Center for Mobility Technologies to help create a research and development network of for local players in the industry.
“Today’s challenges are best addressed through strategic partnerships, and that is exactly what we are creating by bringing together leaders in higher education, industry and transportation,” said Victor Fishman, executive director of the Texas Research Alliance, in a statement.
In addition to the NCTCOG and the Texas Research Alliance, which is a nonprofit created a number of DFW chambers of commerce, UNT, UT Arlington, UT Dallas and SMU are all partnering on the initiative.
Through the center mobility companies submit project proposals directly to universities, municipalities and other agencies; find researchers at local universities to partner with; as well as respond to calls for projects submitted to the center. Submissions are vetted by the NTCMT’s leadership committee, which includes leaders in innovation from all of the participating organizations.
According to the organization’s website, the NTCMT expects to award multiple projects with a cap of $2 million per year. However, that amount could increase as the NTCMT does. The funding comes through the approval of a $2.5 million seed fund created by the NCTCOG’s Regional Transportation Council to invest in projects approved through the center.
The creation of the center comes as a number of tech companies in the mobility industry have been setting up shop in DFW. In 2019, Kodiak Robotics announced developing a facility in Lancaster to support its testing and freight operations. Then, in July of this year, autonomous driving companies Aurora and TuSimple announced plans to open operational hubs in the region.
“The Dallas-Fort Worth region is ripe for the nation's first deployment of automated commercial motor vehicles given the sheer volume of freight it sees, its location along major freight corridors, and the willingness of Texas lawmakers to engage in meaningful discussions on safety and education,” Monika Darwish, policy counsel for autonomous driving startup Embark, which previously tested its tech on Texas roads, told the Dallas Business Journal in September.
Cities in the region have also been experimenting with new mobility technology in their transportation systems. Through a $1.7 million grant from the U.S. Federal Transit Administration Integrated Mobility Innovation Program, the city of Arlington is set to launch an autonomous on-demand rideshare service through mobility companies Via and May Mobility in March. In 2019, Frisco was the site of a driverless rideshare pilot program for San Francisco startup Drive.ai, although the city eventually pulled the plug on the program, citing high costs.
The creation of the NTCMT also marks another recent step in the creation of public-private initiatives to create more tech jobs and startup density in North Texas. The city of Dallas recently launched a task force focused on finding ways to connect startups, enterprise businesses and the public sector in an effort to boost economic growth. Other cities have been looking at ways to directly invest in tech startups, with the city of Fort Worth approving a nearly $70 million grant for electric motor systems company Linear Labs to help it create a manufacturing and R&D center in the city, as create more than 3,000 jobs in the next seven years. The city of Denton has also recently looked at performance-based grants to invest in the startup community, which it expects to create more than 150 jobs in the city.
Legislation on both the local and state level has shown warmth to the driverless tech ecosystem. And with the creation of the NTCMT, its member organizations hope to bring more companies and talent to the region. It is also planning to open a physical site in January, test autonomous and other mobility-related technology.
“Ultimately, the relationships cultivated as part of this exciting new venture could lead to partnerships that help the region take today’s ideas and turn them into tomorrow’s mobility solutions,” Fishman said.
