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21st Century Operations Using 21st Century Technologies

Regents of the University of Michigan Response to USDOT NOFO 693JJ317NF0001 - ATCMTD

3. Organizational Structure

The AAIMS project will be a consortium between the University of Michigan, Ford Smart Mobility, and the City of Ann Arbor, with the university serving as the prime contractor. Within UM, UMTRI will be responsible for the overall project and coordination with the College of Engineering. Ford Motor Company and the City of Ann Arbor will hold key leadership roles in deploying AAIMS. Their leadership will ensure that AAIMS is fully integrated with the City's current transportation system. In addition, this specific three-party consortium will realize significant benefits and enhancements through the consortium's collective experience, knowledge from previously conducted research, knowledge from real-world deployments, as well as the existing assets that each organization brings to the AAIMS program.

AAIMS High-Level Schedule

Figure 6: AAIMS High-Level Schedule

The consortium also includes affiliate organizations that will provide support with their expertise in the deployment of V2X technologies. The affiliated organizations are the Econolite Group, WSP, MDOT and Delphi. The entire team will work together under the leadership of Dr. Jim Sayer who currently leads the AACVTE and was the lead of the Connected Vehicle SPMD.

Each of the functional elements to be included in AAIMS, shown previously in Figure 1, require expertise from a multidisciplinary team to successfully achieve the goal of deployment. The team has thoroughly considered the roles and responsibilities of each organization, as well as specific individuals and their necessary skill sets required to capture the tasks to be accomplished and ensure their completion. Figure 7 depicts the organizational structure of the team.

Organization Structure for AAIMS. University of Michigan (Prime Contractor) partners with Ford Motor Company and City of Ann Arbor.  Affiliates are Delphi, MDOT, Econolite, and WSP.

Figure 7: Organizational Structure for AAIMS

The team will be governed through UM's contracts office utilizing an existing agreement with Ford Motor Company, administered through the UM Business Engagement Center. All participating organizations will be issued a separate subcontract that can be executed immediately upon contract award. A memorandum of understanding will not be necessary for AAIMS operation.

3.1. Organizational Overviews and Key Personnel

A short description of each of the organizations making up the AAIMS consortium, along with key personnel are included below. Full resumes are contained in Appendix A.

3.1.1. The University of Michigan

UMTRI has conducted vehicle safety research in partnership with NHTSA and the industry for over 50 years. Much has changed since UMTRI's founding in 1965, as transportation and vehicle systems have become more sophisticated and capable, as research issues have become more complex and interdisciplinary, and as the timelines between research projects and policy decisions have shrunk. Today, most impactful research activities are team efforts comprised of diverse organizations and disciplines in a collaborative effort; partnerships between government, industry, and academia are common.

UMTRI is thriving in this setting, and has distinguished itself as a trustworthy and capable organization that has served as prime contractor on several large, recent USDOT projects, each of which has had several partners, and in combination had a combined value of over $90M. In each instance, UMTRI has delivered high quality results to the U.S. DOT on time, on budget, and on task.

  • RDCW: The Intelligent Vehicle Initiative Road Departure Crash Warning System FOT (2005)
  • IVBSS: Integrated Vehicle-Based Safety Systems (2010)
  • SPMD: Safety Pilot Model Deployment (2014)
  • AACVTE: Ann Arbor Connected Vehicle Test Environment (on going)

The University of Michigan is known for its research and ability to successfully deploy connected vehicles and infrastructure. We understand what it takes to establish and maintain a deployment as demonstrated by both SPMD and AACVTE. There is no organization in the world that has as much experience with connected vehicle deployments Redacted (rest of line)

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3.1.2. Ford Motor Company

The Ford Motor Company is an American-based automobile manufacturer; its Ford marque claims the spot as the most valuable American car brand, and fifth most valuable car brand worldwide. The company sold over 2.6 million vehicles and generated just under 150 billion U.S. dollars in revenue in 2015. Ford Motor Company has 67 facilities world-wide and employees 199,000. In March 2016, Ford Motor Company announced the creation of Ford Smart Mobility LLC, a new subsidiary formed to design, build, grow and invest in emerging mobility services. Ford Smart Mobility LLC is part of Ford's expanded business model to be both an auto and a mobility company. The company is continuing to focus on and investing in its core business – designing, manufacturing, marketing, financing and servicing cars, SUVs, trucks and electrified vehicles. At the same time, Ford aggressively is pursuing emerging opportunities through Ford Smart Mobility, including our efforts to be a leader in connectivity, mobility, autonomous vehicles, the customer experience and data and analytics. For over 20 years Ford Motor Company has been working as the prime contractor with the Department of Energy on successful, research & development, cooperative agreements. We have also entered into agreements, as the prime contractor, with Department of Transportation. Agreement Number DTNH22-C-00214, entitled "Research in developing performance tests and criteria for Rechargeable Energy Storage Systems" and Agreement Number DTNH22-H-00011, entitled "Advanced Crash Avoidance Technologies Program" are the 2 most recent awards. Redacted (1 sentence)

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3.1.3. City of Ann Arbor

The City of Ann Arbor has a history of progressive transportation systems planning, with a focus on improving safety, environmental stewardship, optimizing system operations, and providing multi-modal opportunities. In order to enhance traffic operations of the existing roadway network, the City began systematically installing a fiber-optic traffic signal network in 1998. Now encompassing over 150 traffic signals and growing, this system enables centralized control of signal operations along key corridors throughout the City. Many of these corridors have been incorporated into the City's Split Cycle Offset Optimization Technique (SCOOT) adaptive signal control system, which is an advanced signal operation technique that continually analyzes traffic flow data and optimizes operations based on real-time conditions. Key personnel include:

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Delphi is a Tier 1 supplier to the global automotive market, with over $15B in annual revenue. As one of the world's largest vehicle component manufacturers, Delphi is a leading global vehicle components manufacturer and provides electrical and electronic, powertrain and active safety technology solutions to the global automotive and commercial vehicle markets. Their customers include all 25 of the largest automotive original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in the world. With 170,000 global employees operating 126 major manufacturing facilities and 14 major technical centers, Delphi utilizes a regional service model to efficiently and effectively serve global customers. Delphi has a presence in 44 countries and over 19,000 scientists, engineers and technicians focused on developing market relevant product solutions for their customers. Key personnel include:

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3.1.4. Econolite Group

Econolite has been a recognized leader, innovator, manufacturer and supplier of transportation management solutions since the company's inception in 1933. Econolite's portfolio of product solutions includes traffic management and maintenance management software, vehicle detection, vehicle and pedestrian signals, traffic controllers and cabinets to reduce travel times, mitigate congestion, enhance safety and increase the efficiency of transportation operations.

Econolite helped establish the industry standards that set the groundwork for the technological advancements of connected vehicles, especially for the vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communication with contributions to SAE (J2735/J2945), the ITE Connected Vehicle Task Force, and the V2I Deployment Coalition where they have taken leadership positions. Econolite has been involved with multiple connected vehicle deployments, including: deployment of ITS systems in the Mcity test facility; deployment of Signal Phase and Timing (SPaT) equipped controllers as part of the SPMD; MMITSS Pooled Fund Study with the University of Arizona and PATH; and the Battelle-led SPaT Interface development and now V2I Reference Implementation. Key Personnel include:

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3.1.5. WSP:

WSP has been working with key players across the world to better understand the impact of connected and driverless vehicles on local environments. WSP partners with state and local transportation agencies to determine where they are today and where they want to go with respect to these advancing transportation technologies. WSP offers strategic and operational guidance covering numerous key areas including: current state of connected and automated vehicle technology; new mobility services and associated activities; public-private partnerships for pilot testing and technology development; and long-range policies and plans supporting strategic, financial and operations planning. WSP was, and continues to be, a key partner with the UM, the City of Ann Arbor and MDOT in the development of the SPMD and the AACVTE. Key personnel include:

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3.1.6. Michigan Department of Transportation:

MDOT is one of the original members of the USDOT’s National Working Group addressing connected vehicle issues and the AASHTO working group developing connected vehicle deployment scenarios for test beds and public applications. During the last several years, MDOT has been expanding its deployment of connected vehicle assets and technologies. This includes DSRC and Wi-Fi test beds along several corridors in Southeast Michigan. MDOT has initiated several research and deployment projects including the Data Use Analysis Processing (DUAP) project looking at how connected vehicle data can change the way a DOT does business. Other MDOT connected vehicle projects include; a multi-Phase/communication Signal Phase and Time project, Slippery Roads Detection System, Vehicle-based Information and Data Acquisition System (VIDAS). All of these projects developed by MDOT in partnership with the automakers and aftermarket suppliers provide data collection platforms that support DUAP and the connected vehicle research and development effort nationwide. MDOT will leverage its existing experiences with connected vehicle technologies, and participate in the planning, installation, technical support, and outreach of the entire program. Key personnel include:

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3.2. Primary Point of Contact

Dr. James Sayer, UMTRI Director will be the primary point of contact for the Ann Arbor Integrated Mobility System. His contact information is below.

2901 Baxter Road
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-2150
Email: jimsayer@umich.edu
Office Phone: (734) 764-4159
Mobile Phone: (734) 730-4747
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