Pittsburgh Project Could Include Corridor for Driverless Vehicles

"Pittsburgh officials hope to advance plans for a new transportation corridor linking Oakland with the city’s biggest undeveloped parcel, the former LTV Steel site on the Monongahela River," reports Jon Schmitz.

The transportation corridor plan has evolved since it was first introduced in 2009. Gone is the plan for rail, and in its place is a proposal for "rubber-tire shuttles"—perhaps even autonomous vehicles under development at Carnegie Mellon University.

Schmitz reports that the Urban Redevelopment Authority approved an application for a state grant of $3 million, which would help pay for the estimated costs of $7.2 million for the first phase of the transportation corridor project.

The transportation corridor is considered a key component necessary for the success of a redevelopment proposal for the Almono site, as the former steel site is now called. "The Almono site...is owned by four regional foundations and its development is being managed by RIDC Corp. Some site work and a long-range mixed-use development plan have been prepared, but transportation connections are inadequate," according to the article.