One of the most popular events at our annual Designing Cities Conference, the Meet the Cities poster session gives every NACTO member agency the opportunity to share their projects, successes, and works-in-progress with their peers. Detroit prepared the content below for its 2025 Meet the Cities poster.
The Detroit Transportation Innovation Zone supports innovators deploying new mobility solutions by building a bridge between advanced technology and regulatory frameworks.
As emerging technologies advanced, traditional permitting processes needed to evolve, and the TIZ was created to foster collaboration between pioneering companies and public agencies. The TIZ is located in Detroit’s Corktown neighborhood, a vibrant hub for mobility innovation.
By reframing the conversation, this approach emphasizes collaboration and progressive public policy while underscoring Detroit’s commitment to leading the future of mobility. As the city embraces everything from scooters to connected infrastructure and autonomous vehicles, early efforts—such as memoranda of understanding (MOUs)—served as a starting point for cooperation. However, these methods were not ideally suited to the rapid pace of new technology development.
TIZ permits include:
Carshare Tele-Operations: This pilot introduces remote-controlled placement, allowing a dedicated EV to be repositioned in walkable and visible Corktown locations, providing affordable, flexible transportation options to residents. Sway Mobility and Mapless AI partnered for this initiative.
Autonomous Robotic Pickup: 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.
Numina Bike and Ped Sensors: Numina takes a Privacy-by-Design approach to measuring how all things move in streets (not just cars) for more walkable, bikeable, and accessible streets. Using vision-based sensors, Numina detects mobility paths. Numina works with the Michigan Office of Future Mobility and Electrification on this initiative.
Smart Pedestrian Crosswalk Robot Pilot: Snowbotix and Smartcross developed a crossing guard robot that can help pedestrians cross intersections safely using an off-grid pedestrian crossing solution. The robot will be deployed at 6th and Porter Street, St. Anne and Bagley with Roberto Clemente Recreation Center, and at Trumbull and Abbott Street.
Digital Trust for Places and Routines: DTPR is an open-source communication standard that will increase transparency and accountability for digital technology in communities with interactive signage for community awareness.
JustAir: JustAir aims to deploy localized community air quality monitors, collect data, and raise awareness about the impacts of air quality in Detroit.
Advanced Air Mobility Infrastructure Inspections: This pilot aims to validate the use of drone technology to reduce inspection time, labor, and risk compared to manual methods. It will also identify energy retrofit opportunities through 3D thermal modeling and assess Detroit’s capacity as a hub for scalable FAA-compliant drone operations, including beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS). Lamarr.ai and airspacelink are permit holders.
Check out all of the posters from Meet the Cities 2025.
