Wheels up

Polk County is poised to be a leader in the study of transportation technologies in the construction of SunTrax.

It's a 2.25-mile oval track near Florida Polytechnic University in Auburndale that will be used for testing tolling technologies and will allow for research and development of automated vehicles and intelligent transportation systems.

Florida Polytechnic University President Randy Avent sees the $56 million project as a tremendous opportunity to encourage auto manufacturers to set up shop in Polk County. “These test sites will do a lot to attract industry. We are trying to start growing [the] high-tech economy along the corridor,” he says. “In my experience when you have a facility like this, industry wants to be close by.”