Driverless Cars in 2022: A Follow-on Session to The Driverless Car Summit

Michael F. Trentacoste

Associate Administrator for Research and Advanced Technology

Federal Highway Administration

6 August 2012

Safety

• 32,788 highway deaths in 2010
• 6,000,000 crashes/year

Mobility

• 4,200,000,000 hours of travel delay
• $80,000,000,000 cost of urban congestion

Environment

• 2,900,000,000 gallons wasted fuel

But, A Big Problem is……

The Driver!

• Causes over 90% of crashes
• Has very poor awareness of traffic:
  • Near – Surrounding cars, trucks, buses
  • Mid – A mile down the road
  • Far - Regional

The Role of the US Department of Transportation

• Develop policies and programs that contribute to transportation that is:
  • Safe
  • Fast
  • Efficient
  • Convenient

Automation As The Solution

Automation: The use of electronic or mechanical devices to replace human labor

Recent Discussion Framework*

* Adapted from Shladover, UC PATH (Presentation at TRB Automation Workshop, July 25-26, 2012

Challenges to Deployment of Automation*

• Public Policy
• Driver-Vehicle Interaction
• Information Architecture and Operational Concepts
• Technology Needs and Constraints
• Transition and Deployment Strategies
• Legal, Liability, and Risk
• Vehicle Safety and Security

* From TRB Workshop, July 25-26, 2012

ITS Research Program Components

Safety Mobility Environment V2V V2I Safety Pilot Real Time Data Capture & Management Dynamic Mobility Applications AERIS Road Weather Applications

Harmonization of International Standards & Architecture Human Factors Systems Engineering Certification Test Environments

Deployment Scenarios Financing & Investment Models Operations & Governance Institutional Issues

Events Since Driverless Car Summit

• FHWA Exploratory Advanced Research Workshop (July 24, 2012):  “Early Automation Deployment Opportunities in Managed Lane Operations”
• Transportation Research Board Joint Committee Workshop (July 25-26, 2012): “Road Vehicle Automation”
• US Army - US DOT Coordination Meeting (August 3, 2012) 

Approach: Moving Forward

• Connected Vehicle Program Milestones
  • Safety Pilot Begins August 2012
  • NHTSA Decision expected in 2013
  • Mobility and Environment Applications Development and Testing Continues
• Vehicle Automation Research Program
  • Continue work on USDOT Vehicle Automation Research Plan and Roadmap
• TRB Workshop Proceedings and Next Steps
• Accessible Transportation Research

Growing Opportunity for Benefits of Automation

54.4 Million People with Disabilities 20% US population; 63% Unemployed Income: $38,400 vs. $61,000 Poverty: 24.7% vs. 9.0% Fed Cost: $226 B (2002); $357 B (2008)

1.4 Million Disabled Veterans $1 Billion Claims in 2006 $6 Billion Claims in 2012

Seniors Age 65 + 35 million in 2004 72 million by 2025

Where Automation Can Take Us...

Surface Transportation System: Independently Managed Today

Author: Ed Schipul	Author: Hunter Sunrise
Released to the Public Domain by author, no attribution required.	Author : dbking	Author: Agamitsudo

Moving toward Integrated Multimodal Operations

Integrated Goals: Safety State of Good Repair Economic Competitiveness Livable Communities Environmental Sustainability
Integrated System: Payload Vehicles Infrastructure Terminals Connectivity

Copyright Owners.

The photos with author names next to them are available under a common license. Click the author’s name to access the license specific to that photo.

• Traffic Management Center: Author: Ed Schipul
• Bike Rack: Author: Agamitsudo
• Metro Passengers: Author: dbking
• Articulated Bus: Released to the Public Domain by author, no attribution required.
• Toll Plaza: Author: Hunter Sunrise

The highway on-ramp photo was purchased  from iStock for this project, and can be used freely for FHWA/TOL presentations - you can find it at http://www.istockphoto.com by searching 000005237320.