Fort Worth was awarded a $2 million grant to test low-altitude weather sensors for freight routes used by autonomous vehicles.
The city got the grant from the Strengthening Mobility and Revolutionizing Transportation, also known as, SMART, Grants funding. Since adverse weather can greatly affect the performance of driverless cars, microclimate sensors will help enhance safety and trip reliability. This includes conditions such as rain or fog.
Fort Worth hopes that this technology will prevent situations like the 130-vehicle pileup on 35W in 2021 that killed six people during the ice storm. It led to a massive pileup on the highway. The testing will be done at the Alliance Truck Port. Since adverse weather, like rain and fog, can greatly affect the performance of autonomous vehicles, microclimate sensors will help enhance safety and trip reliability. The technology, for example, would have come in handy during the 2021 ice storm that led to the massive pileup on 35W that killed six people.
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