Michigan Leaders Announce Transformative Deployments of Connected Vehicle Technology at Automotive Innovation Event

Detroit, MI, Jan. 15, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Local and state leaders will come together tonight at an Automotive Innovation Leadership Reception hosted by Newlab at Michigan Central to announce new deployments of vehicle-to-everything (V2X) service from HAAS Alert across Michigan. The event, which starts at 6:30 PM and is co-hosted by Mobility Accelerator Innovation Network (MAIN) and AutoHarvest Foundation, will feature speakers including:

• Garlin Gilchrist, Lieutenant Governor of the State of Michigan
• Justine Johnson, Chief Mobility Officer of the State of Michigan
• Bradley Wieferich, Director of the Michigan Department of Transportation
• The Hon. Abullah H. Hammoud, Mayor of Dearborn, Michigan
• Chuck Simms, Detroit Executive Fire Commissioner
• Ned Staebler, VP of Economic Development at Wayne State University and President of TechTown
• Justin Onwenu, Director of Entrepreneurship and Economic Opportunity at the City of Detroit

As one of the leading mobility startups based in Newlab at Michigan Central, HAAS Alert collaborates with automakers, public agencies, and city and state officials to drive innovative advancements in transportation connectivity and safety. The company’s industry-leading V2X as-a-service platform Safety Cloud®, which delivers real-time alerts to drivers of upcoming roadway hazards like responding emergency vehicles and work zones, powers digital alerting features in millions of vehicles from Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, RAM, Chrysler, and Volkswagen, and on popular navigation applications like Waze.

Michigan is home to more than 7.2 million licensed drivers that collectively travel more than 95.1 billion miles on state roadways every year. Hundreds of Michigan fleets and cities are already using the Safety Cloud platform to alert drivers, establishing the state as one of the most advanced and connected transportation systems in the United States. In remarks at tonight’s event, leaders from the Michigan Department of Transportation and the City of Dearborn will discuss their newly-announced plans to activate Safety Cloud digital alerting on hundreds more vehicles and assets to further improve safety for Michigan workers, responders, and citizens:

• At the state level, the Michigan Department of Transportation is activating Safety Cloud on a mixture of public safety and roadway maintenance vehicles including State Patrol vehicles, snow plows, work zone assets, and public transit buses. The state is also developing workforce training resources on the installation and operation of digital alerting technology to pave the way for streamlining and standardizing future deployments.
• At the local level, the city of Dearborn announced it is activating Safety Cloud on 300 city vehicles and assets including fire trucks, police vehicles, ambulances, and public works vehicles. As part of broader smart city initiatives prioritized by Dearborn Mayor Abdullah H. Hammoud, Safety Cloud digital alerting will enhance safety for city workers and citizens and enable data-driven improvements in city fleet operations and road design over time.

“We’re pleased to adopt this connected safety service across the state of Michigan,” said State Transportation Director, Bradley C. Wieferich. “The services provided by Safety Cloud can support our efforts to continue iterating on ways to better protect all Michigan road users, including our work force.”

“As Michigan continues to develop and implement leading mobility solutions, traveler and pedestrian safety will always be our first priority,” said Justine Johnson, Michigan’s Chief Mobility Officer with the MEDC. “The Office of Future Mobility and Electrification (OFME) shares this priority with MDOT, which makes partnerships like HAAS Alert so beneficial, as they’re using advanced V2X technology to improve the safety of our roadways today.”

“Digital alerting is a breakthrough solution in connected vehicles specifically because of the local and state leaders that have embraced it as a critical investment in safety,” said Cory Hohs, Founder and CEO of HAAS Alert. “By equipping fleets and equipment across the state with Safety Cloud, Michigan is providing automakers with the ideal ecosystem for designing and launching lifesaving connected vehicle solutions at scale. This kind of collaboration is the only way to deliver real innovation, and our partnership with Newlab and Michigan Central has played a pivotal role in bringing these deployments to fruition.”

About HAAS Alert
HAAS Alert’s mission is to build lifesaving mobility solutions to make vehicles and roads safer and smarter. Our vision is a connected, collision-free world where everyone gets home safely. HAAS Alert makes roads and communities safer by delivering digital alerts from emergency response, municipal and private fleets, work zones, and connected infrastructure to nearby drivers through its vehicle communication platform. For more information, visit www.haasalert.com.

• HAAS Alert Announcing Major Michigan Deployments