Michigan is building a fake city to test automated cars

With all the talk surrounding Google’s self-driving cars — as cute as they are — questions still remain. For one, how will these automated vehicles handle unexpected road conditions, traffic signals, or law-ignoring pedestrians? Just like us, the University of Michigan’s Engineering College is hungry for answers, which is why the organization has plans to build out an automated vehicle testing facility this fall. The facility will be operated by U-M’s Mobility Transformation Center in Southeast Michigan. But what will this city, built solely for the testing of new technology, look like? Truth be told, it won’t be much different from any regular city. After all, the whole point is to test what driverless cars would be like in the wild. There will be merge lanes, stoplights, roundabouts, intersections, road signs, a railroad crossing, construction areas, building facades, and eventually, the college of Engineering will include a mechanical pedestrian to watch out for.