Chapter 1. Introduction

Background

The advent of automated driving systems (ADS) and anticipated cooperative ADS will transform the way vehicles interact not only with each other and other travelers, but also with transportation infrastructure, communications infrastructure, information systems, and system management and operations strategies. Infrastructure owner-operators (IOO) and their partner agencies across the country have been grappling with the questions of how ADS will interact with the transportation system—and what they should do to prepare. Uncertainty around the timing of ADS technology development and market penetration has made preparing for this transformation a challenge, underscoring the need for practice-ready information and tools that IOOs can use for planning and deploying resources and policies for integration of ADS. Key insights from the National Dialogue on Highway Automation¹ include a need for a national vision; increased public awareness and support; agency guidance and education; enhanced planning to include probabilistic and scenario-based planning; and data exchange, standardization, and management.

National automation readiness requires a strategic understanding of the context of automated vehicles (AV) and the national transportation infrastructure. The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has been exploring this context through its work in automated vehicles, including assessing information and data needs for AV, the National Dialogue on Highway Automation, and other FHWA leadership and working groups. Needs, insights, and opportunities identified through these efforts, as well as coordination with the Cooperative Automated Transportation (CAT) Coalition and other professional and research organizations, are providing essential input for Federal, State, and local initiatives to guide AV implementation. IOOs need insights and tools for planning, developing, and deploying resources as they prepare their organizations, physical assets, and policies to best facilitate and leverage ADS deployment.

Among the key aspects of ADS planning, deployment, and operations, access to data is a critical enabler of safe, efficient, and accessible integration of AVs into the transportation system. On Thursday, December 7, 2017, the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) hosted the Roundtable on Data for Automated Vehicle Safety.² The roundtable demonstrated multimodal alignment around the “One DOT” approach to Federal AV policy and marked the beginning of a new phase of dialogue with public and private-sector stakeholders to accelerate safe deployment of AVs.

The following high-priority use cases for data exchange were identified:

• Monitoring planned and unplanned work zones.
• Providing real-time road conditions.
• Diversifying AV testing scenarios.
• Improving cybersecurity for AVs.
• Improving roadway inventories.
• Developing AV inventories.
• Assessing AV safety features and performance.

A data system related to traffic laws and regulations will facilitate the development of ADS behavior and roadway adaptations that fulfill the vision of safe and effective ADS operations. Having consistent and accurate information about jurisdictional traffic regulations relates to ADS compliance that will support safe operations and performance on public roadways. The ADS Operational Behavior and Traffic Regulation Database framework is, therefore, a key requirement for realizing effective, robust digital transportation systems for AV integration. It consists of a comprehensive, structured database of traffic regulations that developers could use to set basic programming standards regarding traffic regulations.

There are challenges to developing ADS to account for the multitude of static and dynamic traffic regulations, providing the regulatory information to ADS, and determining how the system would be implemented across the nation. Traffic regulation information varies among jurisdictions across the country in format, structure, and implementation. Without common data exchanges, it is almost impossible to develop ADS software that can ensure optimal ADS performance under varying sets of traffic regulations. In short, ADS developers have indicated a need for a traffic regulation database that supports consistent indication of traffic regulation. This traffic regulation database will assist in the development testing, and later operation of ADS that is compliant with jurisdictional traffic laws resulting in safe ADS operational behavior.

Purpose

This research investigates the challenges of establishing an ADS-ready traffic laws and regulations database, and the access and exchange requirements to support sharing and consumption of the information within the ADS ecosystem. It also identifies the basic requirements for collaboration among State and local traffic code stakeholders, as well as ADS behavior subject matter experts (SME).

For consistency and interoperability, and to support other databases of existing traffic regulations and their interaction with ADS, it is necessary to develop a comprehensive database framework to support the incorporation of all traffic regulations that enable ADS behavior development and operation. The ultimate goal is to facilitate a traffic regulation specification that supports development and subsequent operations of traffic with ADS-equipped vehicles. This project involves detailed analysis of ADS readiness of the current traffic laws and regulations databases, development of a concept of use (COU), design of a prototype of the traffic laws and regulation database framework, conduct of a simulated proof-of-concept laboratory testbed-simulated demonstration, and development of a model testing plan for a future collaborative implementation of AV integration with the traffic laws and regulations database framework.

The purpose of this COU is to describe an approach to establishing a traffic regulations data framework in support of ADS development. It first lays out the background and context for traffic regulations information relative to AVs and highway automation. The COU then describes the need for the framework from the perspectives of legislative, administrative, traffic control, IOO, vehicle operator, enforcement, and ADS developer stakeholders. The proposed framework concepts are described in terms of the data elements to be captured therein, a logical structure, formats, and interfaces. Use cases are used to describe the applications and interactions of stakeholders with the proposed framework, including its relationship to potential operational design domains (ODD) for the ADS-equipped vehicles. The COU concludes with a discussion of other considerations in the development and use of a regulations framework, such as testing, operations and maintenance, security, and privacy.

The organization of the COU is as follows:

Chapter 1 introduces the background and purpose of the research project and this report.

Chapter 2 describes the context of traffic regulation, AVs, and highway automation.

Chapter 3 describes the needs for traffic regulation data in ADS development from the perspectives of the stakeholders in the regulations data life cycle.

Chapter 4 describes concepts for a regulations data framework.

Chapter 5 identifies and describes use cases for a regulations data framework.

Chapter 6 investigates implications of other factors in a system development and deployment for a regulations data framework.