University of Iowa driving simulator awarded $7 Million federal grant

Seven million dollars in federal funding will help research at the University of Iowa's National Advanced Driving Simulator, or NADS.

The U.S. Department of Transportation announced the grant for the program on Wednesday. This new funding aims to expand transportation options in rural communities.

Assistant Transportation Secretary Finch Fulton talked with KCRG-TV9's Washington D.C. Bureau on Wednesday. He says looking into automated transportation in less-populated areas is often overlooked.

Fulton also says Iowa's program is unlike any other automated traffic research across the country.

"Iowa brought a unique perspective of that. Not only technically sound, but they brought something to the department that we didn't get in any other grant," said Fulton.

The U.S. Department of Transportation awarded a total of $60 million to programs across the country on Wednesday. Others are in Texas, Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan and California.