U.S. wants test-track network for self-driving cars

The U.S. Department of Transportation wants to create a national network of proving grounds where automakers can safely test self-driving cars, Secretary Anthony Foxx said Wednesday.

Universities, corporate campuses and even the urban cores of cities could choose to participate by allowing autonomous vehicle testing on their properties.

“We believe that by designating facilities as part of a community of practice, we can foster a safe environment for these entities to share best practices related to testing and developing this technology,” Foxx wrote on the department’s official blog.

“Before we make an application, we have to go back to our partners and say, ‘What do you think?’” said Randy Iwasaki, executive director of the Contra Costa Transportation Authority.

The authority runs GoMentum Station, a testing facility for autonomous vehicles on the site of the former Concord Naval Weapons Station.

Three companies — Honda, Uber’s Otto and EasyMile — use the station’s grid of roads to test self-driving cars, trucks and shuttle buses.

The automakers and their federal regulators see self-driving technology as a way to prevent traffic accidents, which claim more than 30,000 lives in the United States each year.