Project to Convert Austin Highway Into a Completely Autonomous Corridor

A new 100-mile fiber optic infrastructure project is coming to Austin, Texas as part of a $20 million investment from FiberLight, a fiber infrastructure provider.

The project along State Highway (SH) 130 will create the region’s first intelligent infrastructure economic zone and is being created in collaboration with the Autonomy Institute.

By delivering bandwidth to the areas near SH 130, FiberLight said it will transform the region into a fully autonomous corridor.

Under the project, FiberLight will provide high-speed 10 and 100GB connectivity to the Public Infrastructure Network Nodes (PINNs) to support the development and installation of autonomous systems.

“FiberLight is very excited to be a member of the Autonomy Institute and involved in the deployment of this autonomous systems project,” said Bill Major, FiberLight’s CEO. “To realize the goal for safe and reliable use of automated vehicles, fiber optic placement – delivered by PINNS – is critical,

“For this project, our fiber infrastructure will deliver 10 and 100GB connectivity of capacity or more to each of the more than 240 PINNs, situated every 2,000 feet, across State Highway 130, and provide a resilient solution that will drive economic expansion and job growth for the region."

Related:Taiwan Launches $1.5M Smart City Infrastructure Project

Once established, FiberLight said the network will support autonomous mobility districts, public safety and response, and distributed work centers. Advanced spatial computing capabilities from the scheme will also support autonomous cars, trucks and drones, as well as advanced AR/VR and other edge computing applications.

“SH130 is the modern-day equivalent of Route 66, supporting dozens of communities, and enabling 21st-century solutions,” said Jeffrey DeCoux, Autonomy Institute chairman. “Intelligent Infrastructure touches the day-to-day life of each of our citizens and is crucial to competitiveness and prosperity.”

The project works to advance smart city development across cities, something also being pursued by projects in Michigan, Colorado, North Carolina, New York City, and Italy.