Tech is poised to play a sizeable role in the next phase of smart car research and development.
Now that it is proved a computer can drive a car, the next milestone is to build an automated highway somewhere in American by 2002. Two lanes of the road are scheduled to reach Interstate 81 from Blacksburg between 2002 and 2010 and will be open to regular traffic. The next phase of research focuses on vehicle control devices, according to Dick Bishop, program manager for the Federal Highway Administration's Intelligent Transportation Systems. Virginia Tech 's main competition in rural Intelligent Transportation Systems testing is the Montana State University-affiliated Western Transportation Institute in Bozeman. The institute was formed in 1994 by the university and the Montana and California departments of transportation.