Shift Magazine - Issue 2 2018 - 13

CLOSED

for testing

As Israel attracts mobility investment,
empty highways fill with self-driving cars

ow can a country with almost no
autonomous vehicle infrastructure let
companies test self-driving cars on
public roads without adding layers of
bureaucracy? The Israeli Department of Motor
Vehicles came up with an easy yet unconventional solution: Use closed sections of public
highways.
In August, Israel took a big step toward
becoming a mobility leader when it passed a
resolution intended to boost research and entrepreneurship in smart mobility, backing the measure with a $69 million investment.
The Israeli government is trying to capitalize
on an already-hot automotive sector. In 2017,
Intel Corp. bought Mobileye, a Jerusalem company that makes autonomous vehicle technology, for $14.7 billion. In 2016, Volkswagen
Group made a $300 million strategic investment in Israeli ride-hailing provider Gett, and
Ford Motor Co. bought computer vision and
machine-learning company SAIPS. And in
2015, BMW Group invested in the Israeli transit
app Moovit.
Other companies are expanding their

presence in the tech and cybersecurity-savvy
country. General Motors has opened an r&d
center in Herzliya. Daimler opened an r&d
center in Tel Aviv last year. Porsche, Skoda, MG
and others have opened local tech scouting
agencies, and more are about to open soon.
All this industry activity has created a lot of
self-driving vehicles with nowhere to go. An
autonomous testing center is to open this year
in Netanya, but until then, Mobileye's fleet of
Ford Fusions and GM's self-driving Chevy Bolts
need testing grounds.
The DMV has let companies use closed sections of highways until the roads are ready to be
reopened to the public. A section of the Ayalon
Highway was used for testing in October, and
other road sections, including newly paved
roads in Tel Aviv, will also become temporary
testing grounds.
Israel Katz, the country's transportation minister, said the temporary highway plan will help
Israel reach its mobility goals.
"Israel has set its sights on autonomous technologies," Katz said. "The Israeli DMV supports
any technology that will reduce casualties." ■

BY TOMER HADAR

Getty Images

Transportation Minister Israel Katz, below,
was on hand for the opening of the first
"autonomous abandoned highway," above.

july 2018 * shift

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Shift Magazine - Issue 2 2018