Michigan Partnering with Canada to Spur Border Technology

Liz Gullett

Sep 10, 2021

A new partnership was announced aimed at advancing automotive and mobility technologies, while helping people and goods move safer and more efficiently across the border by land, air, and water. This will be a multi-year effort between the Michigan Department of Transportation, the Michigan Office of Future Mobility and Electrification, Ontario’s Autonomous Vehicle Innovation Network, and the Ontario Ministry of transportation. As part of the effort, a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed to explore the implementation of a cross-border, multimodal testbud for advanced automotive and mobility solutions.

The collaboration will seek to meet the following goals:

- Identify the potential economic, social, and environmental benefits from increased collaboration in mobility technologies.
- Identify issues and challenges for both people and goods related to specific types of border crossing and how mobility technologies could offer solutions.
- Explore the regulatory and policy considerations involved.
- Develop a roadmap for implementation, including steps to establish multimodal cross-border pilots for mobility technologies.

As a first action under the new MOU, a joint Request for Proposal (RFP) is underway to study and analyze the economic potential of expanded border capacity and other benefits that can be achieved by leveraging advanced automotive and smart mobility solutions at international border crossings. For more information on the RFP, please click here.

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