Federal Highway Administration National Dialogue on Highway Automation: August 1-2, 2018 Digital Infrastructure and Data Workshop Summary

Breakout Session I: Data for Integration of AVs

This section summarizes stakeholder discussion from the first breakout session. The following questions were asked:

• Which use cases for voluntary data exchange do you consider critical to accelerating safe and efficient integration of AVs? Put another way, what are the most critical problems you think can only be solved by increasing data access?
• Who is involved in these most critical data exchanges? How should industry, public agencies, and the transportation community work together to enable needed data exchanges? Are there any existing data exchanges you think are good examples?
• What level of data standardization is needed to support AV-enabling data sharing and exchange?
• Who should store, maintain, access, and share data for AV integration?
• How can industry and public agencies work together to ensure data security and privacy? What are the liability issues hindering data exchange and how can they be overcome?

Different Types of Data Will Be Important for Enabling Safe and Efficient AV Operations

Participants discussed various types of data that would be useful for enabling safe and efficient AVs. Operational data, such as real-time data on work zones, road weather, special events, signal phase and timing (SPaT), and lane closures were identified as potentially important for supporting AV operations. Data regarding vehicle operating regulations or local rules of the road, such as speed limits and school zones, were also identified as useful for AVs. Public agencies desire access to data that could help them understand the impacts of AVs on the broader transportation system. These data could help public agencies assess the safety and mobility impacts of AVs and inform infrastructure investment and planning.

Data Providers, Public Agencies, and Third-Party Aggregators Have Unique Roles

AVs will both generate and use large amounts of vehicle and location data. Participants noted the significant potential value of this data to industry and third-party data aggregators. If the data were made available to third-parties, those users would have responsibilities for managing and using the data. Some thought that public agencies, as stewards of the public trust, could have roles in setting parameters on data use and governance. Some suggested that vehicle manufacturers could identify and share basic responsibilities for using vehicle-based data, especially in the context of data privacy and security. Workshop attendees also discussed data ownership and how the owner of a data source has special opportunities and obligations in managing the data it produces.

Public Agencies Have Differing Levels of Resources and Capability to Address AV Data

Public agencies have varying levels of resources to devote to data collection, management, and analytics related to AVs. Although some agencies have robust systems and the expertise to support data initiatives, other agencies do not. Workshop participants discussed managing expectations and recognizing the range of organizational capabilities for addressing AV data. Several noted the usefulness of identifying different tiers of organizational readiness, along with the expected level of support from each type of stakeholder (e.g., vehicle manufacturers, IOOs, etc.).