Tampa Summit To Focus On Putting Automated Vehicles On Road

TAMPA, FL -- It's the wave of the future. And Tampa is on top of that wave.

On Nov. 27 and 28, the University of South Florida Center for Urban Transportation, the Tampa Hillsborough Expressway Authority and the Florida Department of Transportation will host the sixth annual Florida Automated Vehicles Summit in downtown Tampa.

The FAV Summit assembles nationally recognized experts and industry leaders to discuss the state of autonomous and connected vehicle technologies, implementation opportunities, and challenges to successfully integrate automated vehicles – and the accompanying technologies – within existing transportation networks.

The 2018 FAV Summit will focus on ACES mobility. ACES is an acronym for the four rising stars of mobility – Automated, Connected, Electric and Shared.

"The world is moving to shared, electric and self-driving. The implications of this shift will have profound impacts on both government and industry," said State Sen. Jeff Brandes (R-St. Petersburg). "The Florida Automated Vehicles Summit provides Florida's policymakers and transportation leaders to interact with experts in this field."

In addition to automated vehicle demonstrations and exhibits, this year's summit will update attendees on the progress of THEA's Connected Vehicle (CV) Pilot, a $17 million U.S. Department of Transportation-awarded contract to test and deploy connected vehicle technology in downtown Tampa.

As part of the CV Pilot, THEA will be testing applications designed to reduce wrong-way driving incidents and rear-end collisions, increase pedestrian safety, improve traffic flow, prioritize traffic signalization for transit, and reduce incidents of vehicle or pedestrian conflicts with buses and trolleys.

"By being among the first cities in the nation to test and deploy automated and ACES mobility technologies, Tampa is addressing transportation challenges with 21st-century solutions," said Joe Waggoner, THEA executive director and CEO.

The summit will be held at the Marriott Waterside in downtown Tampa, 700 S. Florida Ave.

To register to attend, click here.

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Images via Expressway Authority