Allie Kelly, executive director of I-83 proving ground
The Ray, channels the spirit of the pioneering leader
who inspired this transportation project, and talks
about the technologies now being tested
connected vehicles
on roads by 2022
014 Traffic Technology International November/December 2019
www.TrafficTechnologyToday.com
born, the plan to establish a non-profit
organization that would try to achieve the
same goals in transportation that Anderson
himself proved could be reached in
manufacturing, using technology and
innovation. The ambition was smarter, safer
and cleaner roads.”
A Living Lab
The site for innovation is the segment of the
I-85 memorialized in Anderson’s name. This
18-mile stretch has already showcased
almost a dozen projects including the first
solar road in the US and the world’s first
drive-through tire safety station, and has
been chosen to demonstrate the possibility
of making an interstate route that is cleaner,
safer and more efficient.
“We are utilizing this corridor with our
partners in the state and federal government
as a living lab of sorts – a test track or proving
ground for ideas and technologies that we
hope will transform the transportation
infrastructure of the future,” says Kelly. “It
gives the technology an opportunity to
perform in a real-world setting instead
of sequestering the technology in
trials in private areas that aren’t
representative of the rigors of
a real world environment.”
V2X
The Ray’s latest scheme
involves the Georgia
Department of Transportation
(GDOT) and Panasonic in the
testing of a vehicle-toeverything
(V2X) data
ecosystem that will help
In Georgia there’s an 18-mile stretch of
Interstate that’s leading to the future. The
Ray – as this section of roadway is known
– is named after and inspired by Georgian
businessman Ray Anderson, the world’s
first pioneer for corporate sustainability.
“Ray Anderson was at the forefront of
what we now call sustainability principles
and the circular economy,” says Allie Kelly,
who was recruited as executive director of
The Ray in 2015 after 15 years experience
working in public policy. “Much of what he
did trickled down into the likes of Walmart,
Coca Cola and Unilever. The Ray Anderson
approach became ubiquitous.”
That the spirit of Ray Anderson was
channelled into the creation of The Ray
came about due to unforeseen
circumstances. When Anderson died in 2011
he left his vast personal wealth to his two
daughters, Harriet and Mary Anne, who
established a foundation. In 2014 Harriet
Anderson Langford was working with the
Georgia state legislature to designate
a memorial highway on Interstate 85
starting at the Georgia-Alabama state
line and extending north.
“Harriet realized the day the
governor signed the house
resolution that she had put the
name of the greenest
industrialist of the century
– a man who had adorned the
cover of Time and Forbes
magazines for his sustainable
credentials – to a highway that
was not sustainable,” says
Kelly. “It was from that
moment that The Ray was
Interviewed by Saul Wordsworth
Allie Kelly |
105
million
The expected
number of
Above: The Ray showcased
the USA’s first stretch of
Wattway solar road
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