Panel: autonomous and connected vehicles are coming; committee told to plan for policy, privacy and equity implications

A panel of state and industry experts told the Road Charge Technical Advisory Committee March 27 that autonomous and connected vehicles are advancing rapidly and that state and local governments should prepare for substantial policy, equity and data governance questions.

Randy Iwasaki, former Caltrans director and executive director of the Contra Costa Transportation Authority, described GoMentum Station, a secure test site in Contra Costa with about 5,000 acres (2,100 acres licensed for secure testing), and urged jurisdictions to consider the economic and safety benefits of early testing and jobs clustering. Andrew Conway, chief of registration policy and automation at the California Department of Motor Vehicles, summarized the DMV’s two‑package rulemaking: an initial testing permit framework (already effective in fall 2014) that sets insurance and operator standards and a second package on public sale and deployment that will address designation of operator, functional safety, required disclosures and sensor‑data recording. Conway said the testing package requires a $5 million insurance floor and that eight entities had become licensed testers under the initial rules.

Paul Godsmark (Canadian Autonomous Vehicle Center of Excellence) cautioned that governments are not fully prepared for the socio‑economic impacts. He warned of a likely “tipping point” (his estimate around the mid‑2020s) when autonomous shared fleets would begin to do a significant share of on‑road work, creating big shifts in vehicle ownership, urban form, transit demand and labor markets. Dr. Robert (Rob) Bertini (transportation researcher and former USDOT official) discussed how connectivity (vehicle‑to‑vehicle and vehicle‑to‑infrastructure communication) complements automation and noted U.S. research showing connectivity applications could address a large share of unimpaired crashes. Panelists and TAC members repeatedly flagged cybersecurity, data privacy, liability and equity as unresolved issues requiring cross‑agency collaboration.

Why it matters The panel linked technological trends to policy considerations the TAC must weigh: whether a road‑use charge should rely on vehicles’ onboard telematics, how to protect privacy and secure systems against hacking, and how shared autonomous vehicles could change the number of vehicles providing travel service (and therefore the footprint of any road‑use charge).

Notable details • DMV testing rules (package 1) require companies to maintain training programs for test drivers, report accidents and disengagements, restrict drivers to employees/contractors/designees and carry a $5 million insurance minimum; eight testing permits had been issued as of the meeting. • GoMentum Station (Contra Costa) is a secure test site of about 5,000 acres with 2,100 acres licensed for testing, with facilities to test tunnels, railroad crossings and a seven‑mile spine road. • Panelists estimated potential safety benefits and large economic shifts from shared autonomous fleets; however, they warned of legal, cyber and privacy challenges that are not yet resolved.