Tel Aviv's Ayalon Freeway to serve as autotech testing ground
Most of the pilots being tested are in the fields of smart vehicles and smart transportation, and most of the companies involved will be focused specifically on autonomous transportation.
By AARON REICHTEL AVIV’S congested Ayalon Highway in 2014. (photo credit: MOSHE MILNER / GPO)
Netivei Ayalon Ltd., operators and managers of Tel Aviv's central highway the Ayalon Freeway, will let its facilities serve as a testing ground for Israeli autotech companies that, due to the coronavirus restrictions, are unable to test their pilot projects abroad, Calcalist reported.This will be done in collaboration between Netivei Ayalon, the Israeli Innovation Authority (IIA) and the Transportation Ministry.Most of the pilots being tested are in the fields of smart vehicles and smart transportation, and most of the companies involved will be focused specifically on autonomous transportation. One of the first planned trials, that of small transport drones, will start in July.Other pilot projects the organizations want to test include smart parking lots, public transportation management solutions, a form of integration between different forms of transportation and on-demand shared transportation, Calcalist reported. Other tests will focus on smart infrastructure, such as vehicle extraction, technology-based traffic enforcement and electric car charging.Transportation Miri Regev spoke about the important transportation developments that are possible due to Netivei Ayalon's testing grounds.At a press conference and on social media, Regev spoke about one such pilot project that will be tested, following the tests on double-decker busses at the beginning of 2021."After the double-decker busses, this is the next thing: A train on wheels that will be tested out at Netivei Ayalon's testing grounds in order to test their integration in public transportation," she said.The train itself is a planned development in Tel Aviv that is meant to serve the same purpose as Jerusalem's light rail, as developing an identical service in Tel Aviv would take too long, Channel 12 reported.
