Senators Seek Research Funding for Autonomous, Connected Trucks
This story appears in the April 17 print edition of Transport Topics.
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s testing and deployment of connected and autonomous vehicle technologies would be enhanced by additional federal dollars, a group of senators recently told their colleagues on a transportation funding panel.
Any additional funding should target DOT’s development of 10 proving grounds for autonomous vehicles, nine senators told Senate transportation funding leaders Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Jack Reed (D-R.I.).
“Connected and automated vehicles are going to be developed internationally if we do not take the lead in making sure these technologies are advanced right here in the United States,” the senators, led by Michigan Democrat Gary Peters, wrote in an April 6 letter to Collins and Reed, chairman and ranking member, respectively, of the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee.
The panel is expected to unveil a fiscal 2018 funding measure in a few weeks, likely coinciding with the White House’s fiscal 2018 budget request.
In January, the department designated 10 pilot testing sites designed to encourage sharing around autonomous vehicle technologies. The following month, Peters and Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) announced plans to introduce legislation this year that would outline a national framework for self-driving vehicles.
The call for extra funding to examine technology for driverless trucks and cars by the senators comes as trucking regulators prepare to gather public input for their eventual development of guidelines on the matter.
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration officials will attend the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance’s workshop April 24 in Atlanta to host a listening session on autonomous trucks. The agency would not say when they intend to issue industry guidelines. Lawmakers and stakeholders anticipate the agency will produce such guidelines this year.
According to FMCSA, the listening session will “provide interested parties an opportunity to share their views and any data or analysis on this topic with agency representatives. The agency requests public comments on how enforcement officials could identify [commercial motor vehicles] capable of various levels of automated operation and the types of [highly automated commercial vehicles] equipment that can be effectively inspected at roadside.”
FMCSA plans to provide a webcast of the session and allow remote participation.
Meanwhile, leaders of Michigan’s congressional delegation asked the Trump administration for $200 million in federal funding to test autonomous vehicles.
They asked that a portion of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s fiscal 2018 budget be earmarked for testing and development of autonomous vehicles at DOT’s designated testing facilities. Last year, NHTSA issued guidelines on autonomous cars, outlining state and federal roles managing the technology.
“Technology in this area is changing rapidly, and only through thorough testing can we both encourage innovation and assure public confidence in these revolutionary technologies,” Democratic Sens. Gary Peters and Debbie Stabenow, and Reps. Debbie Dingell (D) and Fred Upton (R) wrote to Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao and Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney.
Also, at a hearing this month, Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) argued regulation to govern autonomous trucks along highways would be needed to ensure the safety of truckers and motorists.
Earlier this year, Chao expressed an interest in exploring potential safety benefits associated with autonomous trucks and cars. She acknowledged before a senate panel the private sector was leading in the technology’s innovation.
“They’re working with cities and states to demonstrate improvements in the safety and efficiency of autonomous vehicles,” Chao said, adding, “We want to work with Congress to position the federal government as a catalyst for safe, efficient technologies, not as an impediment.”
Across the trucking industry, proponents of autonomous technology argue longhaul trucking will eventually develop systems that would facilitate driverless routes. Last year, a semi-autonomous truck operated by an Uber Inc. affiliate traveled on Ohio’s highways. State leaders went on to announce an investment of $15 million in vehicle-to-vehicle, and vehicle-to- infrastructure programs.
