Situation Overview: What Is Driving the Need for Mobility Innovation?

Each day, more than 274 million parcels are shipped in the United States alone, and the U.S. freight market is currently valued at $2 trillion.

The past 18 months have tested the global supply chain like never before. Innovation and investment are central to the continued growth of the logistics industry, with advanced technologies created and implemented into the supply chain every day. The rush of cutting-edge technologies has created a critical need for strategic partnerships that allow mobility visionaries to test and navigate the real-world challenges new logistics technology must safely prove out prior to commercialized deployment.

Why Mobility Innovation?

• Rapid growth & change across the mobility industry
• Need for partnership & integration
• Opportunity in innovation for the movement of goods & people
• 30% autonomous truck adoption in the U.S. market by 2030
• $17.7B+ EVTOL passenger market by 2040
• 4Q 2020 and 1Q 2021 North American intermodal shipments up 9.6% and 10.5% annually, respectively
• 76% annual growth rate in funding for logistics startups since 2014

**Analysis derived from: Pitchbook Emerging Tech Report: Mobility Tech Morgan Stanley Equity Research SVB 2019 Future of mobility Report with data from S&P Capital IQ & Pitchbook. Intermodal Association of North America (IANA)

Mobility Innovation Happens at AllianceTexas

AllianceTexas is home to the Mobility Innovation Zone (MIZ), a unique landscape built on collaboration and opportunity.

The combination of these elements connects people, places, and ideas that push innovation in surface and air mobility forward. By leveraging its one-of-a-kind infrastructure, the MIZ offers mobility visionaries full access to an unparalleled testing ecosystem, resources and partnerships essential to comprehensively test, scale, and commercialize technologies.

The 27,000-acre industrial-focused, mixed-use community is part of a public-private ecosystem that brings regional policymakers and global mobility and technology innovators together. The unique environment allows partner companies of the MIZ to stay informed and influential on emerging mobility regulations.

In a rapidly evolving, always innovating industry, the MIZ is the future of mobility.

What Is Unique And Different About The MIZ?

The MIZ offers a vast, existing, and diverse one-of-a-kind infrastructure with real-world commercialization scenarios unmatched anywhere else in the country and serves both surface and air testing environments. Home to some of the most advanced logistics, supply chain, and e-commerce companies in the world, AllianceTexas continues to establish itself as a collaboration space and connection point for global leaders in logistics innovation. 

Surface Specific Facts

As global freight volumes continue to exponentially increase, it is incumbent upon entrepreneurs to provide innovative mobility solutions that facilitate faster, safer deliveries. Leading companies such as those located within AllianceTexas acknowledge the evolution occurring within supply chains and the need to adapt their businesses.

A recent report found that by 2030 the U.S. logistics market expects to be 30% autonomous, improving the delivery of goods across America. This will be primarily focused along long-haul routes initially. The boom in autonomous surface delivery solutions requires a place for entrepreneurs and innovators to collaborate and safely create effective products that advance the market forward.

[Image: Courtesy AllianceTexas]

The MIZ boasts impressive surface features that make it an ideal testing ground and collaboration hub to ideate and iterate new ground logistics operations.

Why AllianceTexas?

• 27,000-acre master-planned development
• Population of 2M+ with varying densities within 20 miles
• Centrally located in North Texas, with ample port-to-port connectivity
• Existing facilities and build-to-suit opportunities with 50M SF developed to date
• BNSF Alliance Intermodal Hub – 1M lifts/year & 5,000+ trucks/day
• Two Class I rail lines
• 162 miles of roadways: 1-35W, SH 114, SH 170, FM 156
• 500+ companies
• Foreign-Trade Zone

TuSimple Use Case: Autonomous trucking company opens new DFW hub, set to have 50 workers

TuSimple recently opened their new Texas site as they look to expand eastward and throughout the Texas Triangle. Ultimately this facility will be a key component within the growing reach of TuSimple’s autonomous freight network (AFN).

The new AllianceTexas facility is the first of many steps toward a national network for shipping freight by 2024. The locale will serve as a key hub for its push into more states, including Florida, Tennessee, and North Carolina. It also buttresses an expansion in Texas.

The new AllianceTexas facility is opening six months ahead of schedule. This will be key as TuSimple continues to test and commercialize autonomous trucks along Texas roads. The company has an agreement with Navistar to manufacture autonomous trucks by 2024. Joining the MIZ ecosystems gives them access to commercialization resources that will perfect the technology for use in the real world and further cement TuSimple’s reputation as the leader in autonomous long-haul trucking.

“We’re very optimistic Alliance is a great facility for us. It’s in the right place. The autonomous freight network gives customers access to a low-cost, safe, middle-mile, and long-haul solution. It’s going to help solve some of the driver shortages that we have out here.”

Lee White

Vice President of Strategy at TuSimple

Air Specific Facts

There is ample opportunity to capitalize on the long-term market health by investing in innovative mobility and logistics solutions.

By 2026, more than a million drones globally could be carrying out retail deliveries, up from 20,000 today, according to Gartner. And while autonomous air delivery technologies are becoming more capable and sophisticated, there remains a specific market need for technological advancement to satisfy supply chain shortfalls and stay ahead of growing demand for the movement of goods and people by air.

The establishment of a UAS Proving Grounds within the MIZ will allow for private and public stakeholders to accelerate the development and commercialization of UAS technologies and solutions while informing the future regulatory framework in suburban and urban settings. The MIZ’s varying airspace conditions with low-and high-density environments creates a robust home to adopt a variety of commercial use cases. The UAS Proving Grounds provide public and private sector stakeholders with a unique opportunity to test, scale, and commercialize their advanced aerial mobility technologies and solutions to produce the desired safety and reliability outcomes needed to support rulemaking, standards, and policy development.

• Complex airspace environment
• Alliance Airport ranked #23 in U.S. cargo operations, moving 1.7B pounds of cargo in 2020
• Two 11,000’ x 150’ parallel runways
• Onsite U.S. customs
• FAA Southwest Regional Headquarters
• Amazon Regional Air Hub and FedEx Southwest Regional Hub
• Private operational flight-testing center (located 4NM Miles NE of AFW)
• Available MRO facilities
• 5G connectivity compatible

Bell Textron Use Case: Leading Logistics and Mobility into the Future

In early 2021, Hillwood, Bell Textron Inc., and the FAA partnered to demonstrate a beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) unmanned aircraft system (UAS) package delivery in North Texas.

The Bell Autonomous Pod Transport (APT) flew across the MIZ from the AllianceTexas Flight Test Center through complex airspace on a four-mile route to Pecan Square, Hillwood Communities’ tech-forward, master-planned community in Northlake, Texas. The success marks major progress for Hillwood Communities, the MIZ, and Bell, showcasing the many applications of the APT as a logistics vehicle. It also demonstrates that the MIZ has the scale, the infrastructure, and the perfect testing space to support the eventual commercialization of next-generation air mobility technologies. This has been Hillwood’s vision all along.

In addition to fostering innovation, the MIZ is poised to define North Texas as the eminent region for logistics pioneers to call home.

“This successful test of Bell’s APT at the AllianceTexas Mobility Innovation Zone highlights the potential for UAS to complete complex missions, moving the needle closer to connecting logistics operations directly to consumers. Together, we are carving a path forward for future commercial operations to solve the supply chain challenges our world currently faces.“

Ross Perot, Jr.

Chairman of Hillwood

Legacy of Hillwood and Expertise of MIZ Team

By leveraging a full range of real estate expertise and a successful history of public-private partnerships, the Hillwood team brings a unique perspective to every project. Privately owned and founded in 1988 by H. Ross Perot, Jr., with headquarters located in North Texas and global operations in 6 countries and 29 U.S. states, Hillwood draws vision from legacy.

In more than 30 years of operation, the team has demonstrated a stalwart record of success that spans industries. From building industrial developments to mixed-use office spaces, to residential and multifamily communities, Hillwood knows how to create successful, sustainable ecosystems that drive revenue and results.

Strategic Partners and Use Case References

With its pioneering and entrepreneurial spirit, AllianceTexas has attracted some of the world’s most recognizable brands across a wide range of industries. Together, they are leveraging the AllianceTexas platform to convene corporations, startups, academics, and policymakers to create a Mobility Innovation “Do-Tank” that advances the testing and commercialization of ground-breaking innovations.

“Our region is uniquely positioned to support companies engaged in the commercialization of new technologies in air mobility. We’re proud to support Bell and Hillwood in launching North Texas’ first point-to-point package delivery at the MIZ and look forward to their continued leadership in making our region an epicenter to mobility innovation.”

Jeff Williams

Mayor of Arlington,

Texas and Chairman of the TRTC

North Texas Is the Business-Friendly Climate

Texas offers companies and entrepreneurs incredible business benefits, and Texas has been named the best state for business by Chief Executive Magazine of 16 consecutive years. The state doesn’t levy corporate or personal income tax, making it an ideal place to generate greater net revenue for all. Texas also boasts low land and energy costs and fewer land-use restrictions, which means lower operating costs for businesses and lower cost-of-living for employees.

AllianceTexas is situated in the thriving metropolis of Dallas-Fort Worth, which is the fourth largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.8 million residents. North Texas continues to grow, adding 322 new residents each day. Furthermore, North Texas is home to DFW International Airport, which recently jumped to the number one busiest airport in the U.S. and the fastest-growing airport in the country. North Texas is the place to be for businesses that want to advance and commercialize mobility innovation across complex surface and air environments.

Interstate 35 runs right through the heart of the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, and Fort Worth is the Southwestern hub for rail and trucking. The DFW area is also situated at the apex of the Texas Connected Freight Corridor, connecting enterprises to more than 865 miles of interstate highways and major Texas freight nodes. This offers businesses in North Texas true port-to-port connectivity and directly connects them to the Port of Houston, Laredo Border Crossing, and major inland ports such as BNSF Alliance Intermodal.

More than the movement of goods, the Texas Connected Freight Corridor supports logistics innovators with existing autonomous trucking partnerships and offers mobility enterprises freight signal priority and support to improve their safety and mobility.

North Texas is a vibrant, energetic place to do business and AllianceTexas is at the heart of it all.

Learn More

Whatever ground-breaking innovations come next, the MIZ is the perfect landscape to take mobility innovation from idea to reality – surface to air and beyond. To begin your conversation with the AllianceTexas team, please contact Ian Kinne or Christopher Ash.

Learn more on how to test, scale, and commercialize your technology within the MIZ by connecting with us online.

www.alliancetexasmiz.com

Christopher Ash

Senior Vice President of Aviation Business Development at Hillwood

[email protected]

Ian Kinne

Director of Logistics Innovation at Hillwood

[email protected]

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