An autonomous vehicle project planned by the City of Las Vegas and Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada in the Las Vegas Medical District has been awarded $5.3 million by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development (BUILD) Transportation Grants program, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
 
Expected to begin late next year, the project, known as GoMed, will provide autonomous and connected vehicle service around a four-mile route between the Las Vegas Medical District and the Bonneville Transit Center downtown.

The project will feature four self-driving shuttles, pedestrian safety devices and 23 smart transit shelters that are equipped with Wi-Fi, information on shuttle arrival times and occupancy and dynamic wayfinding kiosks.

“This forward-thinking grant will further our collaborative efforts to support and develop innovative technologies that enhance safety, mobility and the quality of life for our residents,” says Tina Quigley, RTC general manager in a statement via the Review-Journal.

“This is a remarkable opportunity for the RTC and the City of Las Vegas to bolster our ongoing efforts to build a smart community.”

According to the RTC, the project will serve an area that features 684 acres of medical facilities that serve almost 200,000 patients every year, and is projected to employ 6,000 people by 2020. The area is also home to four hospitals, as well as the UNLV School of Medicine campus.

Other improvements that will be provided through the project include pedestrian detection software at intersections, GOVegas app improvements that will extend green light time for pedestrians and Wi-Fi improvements throughout the project area.

Through the deployment, operation, and analysis of pedestrian safety technologies that connect traffic signals, drivers, passengers, and pedestrians, the improvements will be especially helpful for the elderly and people with disabilities.

Those technologies will provide beneficial information such as alerts about activity at signalized and non-signalized crossings through dashboard analytics, smartphone technology, and/or hardware at the intersection, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

“Moving people safely, quickly and conveniently in and around the Las Vegas Medical District is a focus for the city of Las Vegas as we continue to build on the world-class medicine offered in the heart of our community,” says Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman in a statement.

“We continue to be at the forefront of new technologies and this is another example of the excitement and expansion happening in our Medical District.”

This is the second autonomous shuttle program that the city of Las Vegas and RTC have worked on together within the last year, with the first project recently concluding in November. Thanks to a collaboration between the city, RTC, Keolis North America and AAA, that project featured an autonomous shuttle operating on a one-mile loop downtown, transporting more than 32,000 individuals on nearly 5,000 trips from Nov. 2017 to Nov. 2018.