A test city for driverless cars

Imagine a town with crosswalks but no pedestrians, cars and trucks but no drivers. Welcome to Mcity, a fake “town” built by researchers who are testing out the driverless cars of the future.

The controlled test environment, which opened on July 20 at the University of Michigan (U-M) in Ann Arbor, USA, covers 32 acres and contains all the trappings of a real suburb or small city.

There is an entire network of roads lined with sidewalks, streetlights, stop signs and traffic signals. There’s even a “downtown” area complete with fake building facades and outdoor dining areas.

The idea behind Mcity is simple: Test out new driverless car innovations in a human-free environment before these technologies are unleashed in the real world.