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Virginia’s transportation board is expected to vote Wednesday to clear the way for testing of self-driving cars on interstates 95 and 495 express lanes.

Transportation Secretary Aubrey Layne said the tests, a cooperative endeavor that involves the state, the Federal Highway Administration and Transurban, the company that manages the express lanes, fits with the type of technological innovation the Commonwealth Transportation Board seeks to foster in Virginia.

The testing program, which will begin before the end of the year, Layne said, will examine speed harmonization to improve congestion, vehicle-to-vehicle communication, how the vehicles function alongside traditional cars, and whether they can be operated as “platoons” to increase road capacity, among other facets of the emerging technology.

The express lanes, also called High Occupancy Toll (HOT) lanes, are an ideal proving ground because of the technology they employ to track traffic flow.

“These are some of the smartest roads in the country,” Layne said. “The technology exists in the road to help communicate with the car.”