With summer road trips in full swing, many of us may be wishing that driverless cars were available today. The reality is the availability and use of driverless cars is not too far away. The move to driverless cars may be more of an evolution versus a revolution say some industry experts.[Tweet "The move to driverless cars may be more of an evolution versus a revolution. #GovEventsBlog"] Each model year, cars are introduced with more and more "autonomous" features from self parking, to lane floating warnings, to automatic braking. Some industry experts say this slow inclusion of features is how we'll get to an autonomous fleet of vehicles on the road.
At the North American International Auto Show in Detroit this past January, Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx announced that the fiscal 2017 budget proposal seeks nearly $4 billion over 10 years in an effort to accelerate the development and adoption of self-driving cars. While Detroit factories may be busy building the cars, cities around the country have to get prepared to host these cars on their roads.
Earlier this year, the University of Michigan unveiled a "test city" designed to showcase how driverless cars would work in a real urban environment. But for autonomous cars to reach our roads, cities have to be preparing for their use.[Tweet "For autonomous cars to reach our roads, cities have to be prepared. #GovEventsBlog"]
If creating a driverless car was not complicated enough, building the infrastructure to support and the legislation to monitor the vehicles is also a critical and complex step in realizing the potential of driverless cars on our streets. A study found that in 2013 only one of the 25 largest U.S. metropolitan planning organizations mentioned autonomous vehicles in its long-term outlook. To encourage more cities, of all sizes, to begin planning for the (seeming) eventuality of self driving cars, the DOT introduced the Smart City Challenge - a contest that asked mid-sized cities to draw up ideas for improving safety and mobility to incorporate driverless cars, intelligent infrastructure, street sensors, and more. Seven cities are in the finalist stage of the program and stand to be awarded up to $40 million to become the country's first city to fully integrate innovative technologies - self-driving cars, connected vehicles, and smart sensors - into their transportation network.
[Tweet "NHTSA has recently updated its 2013 policy statement on automated vehicles. #GovEventsBlog"]At the federal level, The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has recently updated its 2013 policy statement on automated vehicles. The agency is working with companies such as Google, Apple and Uber to establish principles of safe operation for testing self-driving cars and will issue best-practice guidelines for automated vehicles later this year.
Interested in learning more about the development and implication of driverless cars? Check out some of these upcoming Internet of Things and Transportation events.
