TIZ Permits Issued
TIZ Projects
Residents can view the Office of Mobility Innovation's current projects that are approved to proceed within the Transportation Innovation Zone ! Here you'll find a list of innovative mobility projects currently being piloted within the City of Detroit.
The TIZ offers a unique opportunity for individuals and organizations to test new ideas in real-world settings with the support of the City of Detroit Office of Mobility Innovation.
Project 000001: Snowbotix
Overview:
Snowbotix, a Detroit-based robotics company, and Smartcross, a UK based pedestrian crossings tech startup, will team up to develop a crossing guard robot that can help pedestrians cross intersections safely.
Company: Snowbotix and Smartcross
Goal: The goal is to determine whether a portable, off-grid pedestrian crossing solution like this could address safety concerns when pedestrians cross unprotected areas of roadway. This project will be used to determine technical feasibility, desirability (user acceptance & usability) and viability (potential for commercialization).
Next steps: The pilot will conduct initial testing & calibration in a controlled lab setting before testing the robot outside the lab. Once the robot passes specific safety & quality gates, the robot will be deployed controlled use cases at specific partner locations in Detroit. These include: 6th & Porter St with Most Holy Trinity Schools, St. Anne & Bagley with Roberto Clemente Recreation Center, Trumbull & Abbott St with Detroit Hispanic Development Corporation.
Project 000002: Numina
Overview: Numina aims to deploy sensors along Michigan Avenue to provide insights on pedestrians, bicycle, and vehicle traffic patterns.
Numina takes a Privacy-by-Design approach to measuring how all things move in streets (not just cars), so urban planners can design more walkable, bikeable, and accessible streets. Using its proprietary, computer vision-based sensor, Numina detects the presence and paths of pedestrians, bicyclists, different types of vehicles, and other objects in streets and public spaces — converting this anonymous behavior data into analytics for cities, real estate developers, mobility operators, logistics and insurance companies, and more.
Numina will work with local stakeholders to ensure regular sharing of findings and to collaborate on ways to design more accessible streets. This data will be made available to project partners and the City of Detroit. The data collected by the sensors will be analyzed by Numina's data science team, who will use it to provide insights on pedestrian, bicycle, and vehicle traffic patterns, which will help in understanding the effectiveness of street design interventions.
Supported by the Michigan Mobility Funding Platform, Numina will contribute to the city's efforts to create safer and more accessible streets for all. By providing stakeholders with real-time data on street usage, Numina's solution can help identify areas that need improvement, and support the design of safer and more accessible streets.
Company: Numina
Goals and Metrics:
Numina has established several key metrics to measure the success of their project in Detroit. These metrics fall into two main categories: delivering insights to partners, and assisting streets to be more "productive."
To measure the success of delivering insights to partners within the city and business association, they will ask:
- Did partners spend less time and money on traditional traffic counting technology?
- Were they able to make better-informed decisions regarding Michigan Avenue?
- Were they able to use Numina's data to advocate for a specific change with other stakeholders, or use it to secure additional funding?
- Was Numina's data included in third-party studies on walkability, foot traffic and retail, or micro-mobility related to the area?
To measure the success of assisting streets to be more "productive," Numina will ask:
- Were other startups, technology companies, and transportation services able to build off of, or benefit from, our data?
- Were Detroit's long-time vendors and other city agencies able to build off of, or benefit from, our data?
- Was another business able to create a revenue stream or save on costs, from our data?
By using these metrics, Numina seeks to ensure that their project is providing tangible benefits to our partners and stakeholders, as well as helping to create a more productive and equitable streetscape in Detroit. Long term, well beyond the year’s program, Numina's ultimate impact will be measured in reduced traffic fatalities on roads planned with Numina data.
Project 000003: JustAir
Overview: JustAir aims to deploy localized community air quality monitors and collecting data to raise awareness about the impacts of air quality on communities in Detroit.
Company: JustAir
Goal:
JustAir, in partnership with local community organizations and stakeholders, is implementing a project to deploy six air quality monitoring sensors across the Transportation Innovation Zone.
Located in Southwest Detroit, an area known for its high levels of air pollution, this initiative aims to enable the community to gather essential baseline data on air quality. Through this pilot program, we will assess the effectiveness of various emissions-reduction efforts, while also ensuring residents are kept informed and safe through a publicly accessible dashboard and text alert system.
The project, scheduled to run from February to August 2024, seeks to generate momentum for sustained improvements in air quality and safety within the community.
Final neighborhood locations: The final neighborhoods chosen for pilot deployment are as follows: Nagel Park Parking Lot, Harrison and W Fisher Service Drive, Mudgies Playground, SW Greenway / Bagley (on private property), Rosa Parks / Jefferson, and St. Annes Courtyard (on private property). More information here.
Air quality data collected from these sensors can be seen in the map here.
JustAir monitor model: Here
Project 000004: Autonomous Food Waste Pickup
Overview:
Orange Sparkle Ball is an innovation and impact accelerator dedicated to advancing initiatives for both public and private organizations. In collaboration with Scrap Soils, a local composting startup based in Detroit, and Ottonomy, a company specializing in autonomous ground robots, Orange Sparkle Ball is spearheading a pilot project to demonstrate the feasibility of zero-emissions compost pickup in the diverse neighborhoods of downtown Detroit.
Company: Orange Sparkle Ball
Partners: Scrap Soils and Ottonomy
Goals: The project aims to pilot Ottonomy autonomous ground robots in Detroit, focusing on the Corktown area. It seeks to engage residents of relevant neighborhoods to raise awareness about the benefits of composting and explore the potential of autonomous pickup for food waste. The potential neighborhoods for the project include Fountain Court and North Corktown, with plans to refine the scope during the pilot preparation phase.
Project 00005: Digital Trust for Places & Routines (DTPR)
Overview: DTPR is an open-source communication standard, in order to increase transparency and accountability for digital technology in our communities. The pilot aims to deploy interactive signage for community awareness.
Company: Digital Trust for Places & Routines (DTPR)
Project 000006: Autonomous Robotic Pickup Pilot
Overview:
Led by Orange Sparkle Ball, this pilot project partners with local Detroit organizations and autonomous ground robot startups to explore what robotic pickup could look like in Detroit neighborhoods. The initiative utilizes autonomous robots to collect household materials, offering a glimpse into the future of sustainable waste management.
Company: Orange Sparkle Ball, in collaboration with Intermode and Refraction AI
Goal:
The goal of this project is to pilot Intermode ground robots, powered by Refraction AI's autonomy platform, in Detroit's Corktown area. The robots will collect food waste, plastic bags, and small electronics from residents, transporting them to appropriate recycling and composting facilities. The pilot also aims to raise awareness about the benefits of autonomous pickup services within the community.
Next Steps:
Phase 1 will deploy Ottonomy ground robots to collect food waste, which will be transported to Brother Nature Farm for composting. Phase 2 will focus on plastic bag recycling, where Intermode robots will gather plastic bags to be delivered to Recycle Here! or another centralized collection point for proper recycling.
Project 000007: Corktown Carshare Tele-Operations Pilot
Overview:
Corktown Carshare, a program launched under Michigan Central's Accessible Streets Studio, is expanding with a tele-operations pilot led by Sway Mobility and Mapless AI. This pilot introduces remote-controlled vehicle placement, allowing a dedicated EV to be repositioned daily in walkable and visible Corktown locations, providing affordable, flexible transportation options to local residents.
Project Team: Sway Mobility and Mapless AI
Goal:
This pilot aims to test the efficiency of tele-operated carshare services. A Mapless-trained remote operator will relocate the vehicle each morning, making it accessible to Corktown residents throughout the day and returning it to a charging hub each evening. This model enhances accessibility and flexibility by enabling vehicle deployment in response to demand, benefiting Detroiters seeking affordable and sustainable transportation.
Next Steps:
- Phase 1: Daily vehicle repositioning at various Corktown locations to increase visibility and accessibility, focusing on affordable housing communities.
- Phase 2: Data collection and community feedback to refine vehicle positioning and explore expanded carshare accessibility.