Policies to Support the Integration of Autonomous Vehciles

Automated vehicle technology is rapidly advancing, and the idea that driverless cars can replace conventional automobiles is becoming more and more of a reality. The movement towards autonomous vehicles has the potential to have profound impacts on urban infrastructure. As personal cars became the primary mode of transportation, cities sprawled outward and reallocated large amounts of the built environment to highways, roads, and parking lots. When autonomous vehicles are widely adopted, transportation infrastructure needs will change, the space required for parking and movement of vehicles can be reduced, and part of the infrastructure used currently for personal vehicles can be repurposed for active transportation facilities and infill development. The policies enacted by the federal, state, and local governments will largely dictate how the authors allow autonomous vehicle to shape built environments. Most of the Federal and State laws and legal precedent focus on the issues of testing and liability around allowing driverless vehicles to operate on roadways. Little is currently being done at the local level to address legal frameworks for how to adopt and use this new mode of transportation. Unless there is a concerted effort to prepare for the potential effects of automated vehicles on cities, more immediate challenges that solely focus on meeting their demand for road space will supersede more long term implications for how autonomous vehicles will be effectively integrated into cities will be overlooked. This paper explores how cities can incorporate autonomous vehicles in a way that follows existing precedent and laws.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • This paper was sponsored by TRB committee ABE30 Standing Committee on Transportation Issues in Major Cities.
• Corporate Authors:

  Transportation Research Board

  500 Fifth Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20001
• Authors:
  • Nord, Anna
  • Sperling, Elliot
  • Tobey, Michael
• Conference:
  • Transportation Research Board 96th Annual Meeting
  • Location: Washington DC, United States
  • Date: 2017-1-8 to 2017-1-12
• Date: 2017

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: References; Tables;
• Pagination: 16p
• Monograph Title: TRB 96th Annual Meeting Compendium of Papers

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Infrastructure; Intelligent vehicles; Legal factors; Policy
• Subject Areas: Data and Information Technology; Highways; Law; Operations and Traffic Management; Policy; Vehicles and Equipment;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01626049
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: 17-06526
• Files: TRIS, TRB, ATRI
• Created Date: Feb 15 2017 5:03PM