AllianceTexas’ Mobility Innovation Zone Partners With Texas A&M Transportation Institute » Dallas Innovates

By Editor On Jul 9, 2021

From flying cars to driverless trucks to drone deliveries, the future of mobility could change the way we live. But first, a lot of R&D is needed, and it’s done on a grand scale in the Mobility Innovation Zone – the “MIZ” – at AllianceTexas in North Fort Worth. The MIZ is just missing some additional aggie know-how, and now it’s here: The real estate company Hillwood from Dallas has announced a research partnership between the MIZ and the Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI).

“Our partnership with TTI is a natural pairing for the next phase of research and development at MIZ, and we can’t wait to see where our partnership will take us to transform the mobility landscape of the region and the country,” said Ian Kinne, director of logistics innovation for Hillwood, in a statement. “With unmatched expertise in this field, TTI ensures that we have the research-backed results needed to not only set standards, but make significant advances in emerging mobility technology.”

In his new role, TTI will conduct research at AllianceTexas, manage strategic initiatives and serve as a think tank for new mobility opportunities.

Image: AllianceTexas Mobility Innovation Zone – https://www.alliancetexasmiz.com/

A testing ground like nowhere else

Hillwood believes the MIZ offers something that cannot be found anywhere else in America: a sprawling proving ground that gives partner organizations the size, infrastructure, and environment to commercialize new air and land mobility technologies.

TTI agency director Greg Winfree can no longer agree. “The location and capabilities that the MIZ provides provide an unprecedented sandbox for research and development on technologies that advance businesses, goods and people,” he said in the statement.

Winfree said the research partnership reaffirms TTI’s commitment to test and scale innovations that affect the way we live.

Map: AllianceTexas

TTI got it right to the point in research and development

TTI is America’s largest university transportation research agency. His expertise spans engineering, planning, economics, politics, public engagement, landscape architecture, environmental sciences, data sciences, social sciences and more.

With all that comes to the MIZ, helping a package deliver it itself should be a breeze, right?

The new partnership strengthens Texas A & M’s presence in Tarrant County and expands TTI’s Arlington office and Texas A&M Law School in Fort Worth.

Amazing numbers are driving R&D in the field of mobility

Think tanks and R&D are more than just research. The real goal is commercialization – turning those science fiction ideas into everyday reality by testing and scaling them.

Autonomous trucking could transform the US $ 1.6 trillion freight market immensely, with 20 billion miles of unused trucking capacity currently available each year.

The eVTOL (electric vertical take-off and landing) passenger market is expected to grow to $ 17.7 billion by 2040.

So it’s no wonder that funding for logistics startups has grown by 76 percent annually since 2014.

Addressing commercialization challenges

Kinne says the MIZ-TTI partnership will address the challenges of emerging technical commercialization in a variety of ways, “particularly in terms of the way we build infrastructure to support the future.” [and] how we will inform and advise political decision-makers, NPOs and public and private companies on how to regulate and use them. “

The partnership will also look at “how we work with other companies applying mobility innovations so we can all work together to improve the supply chain, efficiency, quality of life and better use of public funds in the transport system,” he said.

For example, Kinne says the MIZ will focus on the eventual introduction and commercialization of eVTOL passenger taxi services and is coordinating with NASA and the FAA on this.

[Photo: Hillwood]

Tech pioneers now at work in the MIZ

While TTI is unpacking their suitcases, other tech pioneers are already deeply involved in projects at AllianceTexas. In February, Fort Worth-based Bell Textron launched its autonomous pod transport operation and is offering the first demonstration of point-to-point unmanned aircraft system package delivery in North Texas (above).

The autonomous trucking startup TuSimple is one of the tech pioneers who are now working at MIZ. [Video screen shot: Business Wire/TuSimple]

The autonomous trucking startup TuSimple is also active at Alliance Texas and offers autonomous trucking operations that run on the “Texas Triangle” freight corridor.

Other announced partners currently working in the MIZ include Kodiak, ITS ConGlobal, BNSF, Phantom, Gatik, Deloitte and Embark.

Then there are the psst! Company – some MIZ projects are NDA secret. Kinne says they will help address “the entire mobility pipeline from the first mile, last mile, middle mile, logistics and inland port operations”. We hope to be able to report on it in the future.

The biggest surprise: everything happens quickly

We asked Kinne what mobility innovations will surprise people the most. His answer: the speed and the extent to which it is used, for example, in autonomous long-distance traffic.

“We will see great advances in first and last mile technologies and infrastructure in and around ports,” he said, “as well as the further development of unmanned aircraft systems for the delivery of parcels.”

Texas will be one of the first to see big changes.

“We will see complementary and tangential infrastructure improvements in the areas of energy and electrification, the use of data and next-generation wireless communication such as broadband, and long-haul network capacities and utilization,” said Kinne.

“We will also see the next iteration of 5G and our private or public wireless communication networks will be even more robust. Against this background, we will also see an increasing demand for local data centers. Overall, this will improve the efficiency, reliability and resilience that we have built into the supply chain, benefiting customers at all levels. “

Private capital is groundbreaking

It takes money to move all of this forward, and Kinne says there is so much flowing now that it is increasing the pace of change.

“We are currently in an unprecedented position as private capital is driving the development and advancement of emerging mobility and automation technologies exceptionally quickly,” he said. “Private investors are pushing for the introduction of new technologies very quickly.”

Kinne says the MIZ is uniquely positioned as a “Do Tank” that enables companies to market advanced logistics solutions in a supportive and collaborative environment.

Multimodal platform from AllianceTexas

AllianceTexas is a 27,000 acre industrial, mixed-use, and residential development. Air and ground logistics assets include a world-class intermodal hub, urban airspace at Fort Worth Alliance Airport, and interoperability between hubs in the supply chain that enable a wide range of activities from the first to the last mile.

In addition, there are more than 525 companies that have built more than 50 million square feet and created over 62,000 jobs, according to AllianceTexas.

Why North Texas is an innovation leader

“North Texas has a very unique infrastructure in place and our companies in the region, and AllianceTexas in particular, are unprecedented in their willingness and cooperation to improve resilience and reliability,” said Kinne has an extensive workforce in the aerospace industry. “

“There is no better place for innovators to move from research and development to testing and commercialization, and we believe the MIZ is the best-placed environment to give wings to these new technologies.”

Now that the Texas A&M Transportation Institute is on the case, a lot more action – and breaking news – could be flying out soon.

Come on the list.
Dallas innovates every day.

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