News
Dec 19, 2023
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SunTrax, a state-of-the-art facility in Central Florida built by Florida’s Turnpike Enterprise, received a 2023 Southeast Region Best Project award in the Higher Education/Research category. The first of its kind facility in the U.S. designed from the asphalt up, SunTrax allows manufacturers and innovators in the automotive and related industries to test drive vehicles and technology consumers will soon see on roadways.
Designed by Jacobs, SunTrax’s 200-acre infield test facility offers numerous testing environments and is dedicated to research, development and testing of emerging transportation technologies. From high-speed (up to 70 mph) traffic conditions on freeways and interstates to congested urban roadways and intersections of a typical city, SunTrax provides a safe, controlled environment to test emerging technology in the ever-evolving world of connected and automated vehicles.
Connected and automated vehicle technology includes telecommunication protocols, devices and systems that allow vehicles to communicate not only with other nearby vehicles but also with connected infrastructure (e.g., traffic signals) and with the surrounding roadway environment (e.g., lane lines, roadway hazards, etc.) under typical roadway conditions.
This technology holds the promise of easing traffic congestion, as it allows vehicles to travel closer together in traffic while still maintaining safe operation. There is also an environmental benefit—tighter following distances when multiplied over multiple lanes and multiple miles of roadway means that the same amount of roadway can carry more vehicles. That means fewer roadway widening projects in the future, less mining of construction materials and less environmental impacts from construction.
How much of an impact CAV technology will have on the driving public remains to be seen, but one thing is certain: with the award-winning SunTrax facility, the future of automotive research and development is bright.
Did you know?
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2.25 mile
The SunTrax facility features a 2.25-mile oval track with four free-flow toll gantries
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138 K+
The SunTrax facility features 138,381 square feet of total asphalt and four test surfaces on wet test track
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28.9 %
There's a 28.9% grade on the SunTrax geometry track which tests horizontal and vertical blind spots
About transport planning at Jacobs
Decisions made on transport infrastructure can influence the shape and success of our cities for generations, at a time of rapidly changing work and living patterns. We help our clients decide whether to invest in hard capital infrastructure or more data-driven and connected efforts, nudge people out of their cars on to more sustainable forms of transport on the drive toward decarbonization or devise new ways of using existing infrastructure more intensively—all while understanding the wider economic and political implications of such policies.
Our more than 1,000 transport planners worldwide offer a full range of services, from front-end feasibility studies and policy development to full-scale strategic modeling and scheme appraisal, to the detailed analysis of projects.