BISMARCK, N.D. – The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration announced an award of $2,220,687 to two North Dakota colleges and the North Dakota Highway Patrol. The funds will be distributed as follows:
- $1,249,653 to North Dakota State University (NDSU) under the High Priority Commercial Motor Vehicle (HP-CMV) Program. NDSU will use these funds to conduct research and testing of autonomous vehicles in winter conditions, focusing on two-lane rural highways in North Dakota. The project will identify challenges associated with operating and maintaining autonomous trucks in harsh weather conditions, the effects of extreme cold on sensors and autonomous driving systems, implications of extreme winter conditions for safety inspections, operational conditions for autonomous trucks in relation to operational design elements and to provide recommendations on a safety plan and a structure for safety testing and operation in winter.
- $689,661 to NDSU under the HP-CMV Program. This grant will fund a project to build a searchable database of state agency and university partnerships to organize information on existing and future collaborative projects. The project will also organize a safety summit to disseminate project information with state agencies, universities, and other interested stakeholders.
- $198,817 to the North Dakota Highway Patrol (NDHP) under the HP-CMV Program. This funding will help NDHP identify additional out-of-service vehicle violations by implementing a second Performance-Based Brake Testing machine. By removing unsafe CMVs from the roadways, NDHP will reduce the potential for fatal and injury crashes by 15%.
- $82,556 to Williston State College under the Commercial Motor Vehicle Operator Safety Training Program. This funding will assist the college in recruiting and enrolling qualified students for its Commercial Driver’s License program.
