Mcity Progress Report

March 1, 2025

Mcity becomes part of the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute.

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Mcity is a public-private partnership focused on advancing transportation safety and efficiency for the good of society. Over the last two years we’ve expanded our offerings (and staff) and we’ve grown into a makerspace for mobility innovation.

See what we've been doing.

Evolving

Transformed our test facility into a mobility makerspace

The Mcity Test Facility was envisioned as a laboratory to test automated and connected vehicles. The facility was intentionally designed to mimic the roads, streets, and highways that connect our communities across the United States. Along the way, we found we had built an ideal environment for learning and innovating on mobility systems more broadly, enabling exploration of their role in the health and growth of our future communities.

Today, Mcity is a makerspace for mobility innovators.

The Mcity Test Facility is now approved for drone use.

What can you do at mcity?

Build and test mobility innovation within our mini-city.

Develop AI algorithms for smart city applications
Test CAV and EV technology
Prototype advanced roadway materials
Pursue early-stage development and testing
Build out new wireless technologies
Conduct demos and test drives
Explore net-zero solutions

Get Started

Established the Mcity Safety Assessment Program

The past decade's widely held expectations that AVs would soon be on the road in large numbers have not been realized. We know why: Most consumers do not yet trust that AVs are as safe as vehicles piloted by human drivers. Throughout 2023 and 2024, Mcity further refined its two-part Mcity Safety Assessment Program, a methodology for evaluating both an AV’s driving skill and its ability to intelligently interpret and react to its surrounding traffic environment before testing on public roads.

A two-part evaluation called the Mcity Safety Assessment Program was used to test an automated shuttle destined for Detroit.

Self-Driving Shuttle Pilot

In late 2023, we conducted the first real-world application of the Mcity Safety Assessment Program by testing a new automated shuttle to ensure it could safely serve older adults and people with disabilities as part of the city of Detroit’s Accessibili-D Self-Driving Shuttle Pilot. We believe the methodology could serve as a model for a national AV safety framework.

Adapting

Invested in building digital infrastructure

We celebrated a milestone in the advancement of the decade-old Mcity Test Facility when we opened the facility for remote use by researchers nationwide. The launch followed two years of upgrades funded by the National Science Foundation to enhance the track’s physical infrastructure and create new digital infrastructure that together enable remote use of Mcity testing resources.

A driving simulator provided by VI-grade is used to demonstrate tele-operation of an AV inside the Mcity Test Facility.

REMOTE ACCESS LAUNCHED AT OCTOBER EVENT

The availability of remote use kicked off with a series of demonstrations in October 2024 for industry and state and federal government officials.

Developed open-source tools for mobility

Mcity researchers in 2023 and 2024 created a suite of open-source tools to spur mobility innovations. Anyone can now experiment with Mcity’s open-source tools before starting a research project. The Mcity Data Engine automates the process of developing AI algorithms for those seeking actionable data insights through machine learning.

MCITY DIGITAL TWIN NOW AVAILABLE

The Mcity Digital Twin, a virtual representation of the Mcity Test Facility, was developed with support from the National Science Foundation. The digital twin works together with TeraSim, an open-source traffic simulator developed by Mcity researchers, to generate realistic and safety-critical driving scenarios for testing in simulation.

Side-by-side comparison of Mcity's test track and digital twin.

Growing

Launched a new, expanded membership model

Mcity retired our Leadership Circle and Affiliate membership program on June 30, 2024, and replaced it with a tiered approach for industry and startups with membership fees based on revenue. Approved government and non-profit organizations may join as partners at no cost, pending approval of the Mcity director. Researchers and students may also engage with the Mcity community at no cost.

Membership type	Global yearly revenue	Membership dues per year
LEAD	For companies with revenues over $1 billion	$50,000 or $100,000 in-kind
ACCELERATE	For companies with revenues under $1 billion	$15,000 or $30,000 in-kind
STARTUP	For startups with revenues under $10 million	$5,000 or $10,000 in-kind

Bolstered education and outreach opportunities

For Students

Mcity leads U-M’s participation in the Michigan Economic Development Corp.’s Michigander Scholars Program, which provides scholarships to students who accept Michigan-based internships or full-time positions related to careers in mobility with participating companies. Since its inception in 2023, the scholars program has awarded more than $500,000 to students at the University of Michigan.
In 2023, the U-M College of Engineering and Mcity created the Open Roads Fund, which removes cost barriers to using the Mcity Test Facility for students and faculty.
Perot Jain TechLab at Mcity, founded in 2016 as a company-in-residence program for early-stage mobility companies, has grown to include two additional focus areas: electric vehicles and climate and sustainability. TechLab is managed by the College of Engineering’s Center for Entrepreneurship in partnership with Mcity.

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The EV space is advancing quickly. I hope to be an integral part in shaping it and leading it to success.”

More For Students

FOR INDUSTRY, GOVERNMENT AND ACADEMIA

Mcity hosted the yearly Mcity Congress in May 2023 and 2024, bringing together experts to discuss challenges and solutions for the future of mobility.
Beginning in 2023, Mcity joined the Accessible Mobility Collaborative (AMC) to advance efforts for solving vehicle and infrastructure accessibility challenges.
In 2024, the new Mcity AV Challenge pitted researchers against each other to design an AV decision-making module that can safely, efficiently and comfortably navigate routes in Mcity’s first-of-its-kind, city-scale virtual proving ground.
In 2023, Mcity published the final white paper in a series of four exploring data policy and AVs. The research was conducted and the paper was written by Covington & Burling, a global law firm and Mcity member based in Washington, D.C.

Mcity is an interdisciplinary public-private partnership bringing together industry, government, and academia to transform mobility. As part of the U-M Transportation Research Institute, Mcity helps advance safe and efficient transportation and mobility solutions for the benefit of society.

Become a member

Evolving Adapting Growing