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21st Century Operations Using 21st Century Technologies

Federal Highway Administration National Dialogue on Highway Automation: November 14-15, 2018 Infrastructure Design and Safety Workshop Summary

Breakout Session III: Action Planning Discussion

This section summarizes feedback from stakeholders who participated in the final breakout session focused on developing an action plan around safety and infrastructure design for AVs. Key suggestions from this discussion included the following:

  • Demonstrate safety benefits of technology using specific use cases to increase public acceptance.
  • Update the MUTCD to clearly communicate safety parameters and priorities.
  • Facilitate collaboration and conversation across private industry and government agency boundaries. Lead an overarching stakeholder coordination committee to develop standards and guidance.
  • Host a conference for early adopters of AV pilots.
  • In collaboration with private industry and other government agencies, develop guidance to support both digital and physical infrastructure needs (e.g., define common operating platform for data exchange, define baseline infrastructure parameters and minimum standards).
  • Develop an education strategy that achieves the following objectives: education of the general public, capacity building for the future workforce, and training for current workforce of key stakeholders.
  • Create a clearinghouse to serve as a resource and to share best practices.
  • Convene OEMs, IOOs, and other stakeholders to determine funding mechanisms for new infrastructure needs.
  • Develop a framework for incremental implementation of AVs that clarifies various areas of readiness (e.g., scorecard to validate roadway readiness for AV deployment).
  • Conduct a pooled fund study on infrastructure including University Transportation Centers, States, and OEMs.
  • State and local DOTs take inventory of infrastructure assets both to update asset management plans and to create 10-year plans to improve infrastructure to support AVs.
  • Build a comprehensive, centralized warehouse of information on automation.
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