Oakland County in Michigan and the Road Commission for Oakland County (RCOC) have selected P3 Mobility (P3M) of Toronto to launch a first-of-its-kind pilot program to test connected vehicle infrastructure and determine the viability of innovative business model to monetize the technology.
The initiative was announced at the ITS America Annual Meeting in Detroit, with the parties stating that the business model for the project will involve a public-private partnership. In 2014, Oakland County’s executive, L Brooks Patterson, announced the formation of a Connected Vehicle Task Force whose job was to tap industry experts to develop a business model for implementing connected vehicle infrastructure throughout the county. P3M will help the task force take the next step on developing and testing a leading-edge business model.
P3M provides a software platform that enables secure and authenticated subscriptions to various smart road services. The company believes that intelligent road infrastructure can be built and funded through a public-private-partnership (P3) model, hence its name. P3M has identified and formed partnerships with leading companies in the Connected and Autonomous Vehicle (CAV), market research, and consulting sectors, to bring Oakland County a consortium of world-class expertise. Partner companies that provided support in P3M’s Oakland County RFP response included: Marsh, WSP, Integral Blue, E-Scrypt, Miovision, Savari, Paxgrid CDN, IMG Rebel, Head Research, Giants and Gentlemen, Mobile Comply, Future Help Design, Veterans Life USA, Axcess Internet, Lease Web, Invest Stratford, and Stonebridge.
P3 Mobility will install wireless smart intersection technology at 10-12 intersections and research the user experience to better understand the optimal pricing of various road services and their projected income potential. The exact location, dates of installation, and cost of the project will be determined. P3M aims to engage the diverse expertise of its partner firms to demonstrate a level of success in the pilot phase, which will pave the way for a full-scale roll-out in Oakland County, the State of Michigan, and throughout North America.
“The pilot program has the potential to revolutionize transportation, not just in Oakland County, but for the world, by seeing whether we can monetize connected mobility infrastructure,” explained Patterson. “On an engineering and business level, this is our moon shot. The University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI) published an article a few weeks ago that says implementing connected vehicle technology and infrastructure could prevent up to 8.1 million car crashes and 44,000 deaths. Taking another step closer to countywide connected vehicle infrastructure, is another step closer to preventing automobile deaths and injuries.”
P3M’s CEO, Erin Milligan, said, “We are delighted to have been selected for this groundbreaking project in Oakland County. During the pilot, we will engage with Oakland County residents at every level, which will include conducting extensive market research to learn what they think about and want for future connected mobility in their community.”
