National Dialogue on Highway Automation

Automated vehicles have the potential to significantly transform the nation’s roadways. They offer potential benefits in safety but also introduce uncertainty for the agencies responsible for the planning, design, construction, operation, and maintenance of the roadway infrastructure. The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is initiating a national conversation with partners and stakeholders to better understand the implications of highway automation to facilitate innovation and inform the Agency’s role in this area. This National Dialogue on Highway Automation represents a series of meetings held across the country to facilitate information sharing, identify key issues and prepare the infrastructure and the broader transportation community to safely and efficiently integrate automated vehicles into the road network. Input received during the National Dialogue will help inform national research, policy, and programs and will aid in the development of a national transportation community for automation.

This National Dialogue will engage an expanded set of stakeholders, beyond FHWA’s typical stakeholders, in order to ensure that this issue has broad input. These stakeholders will include but is not limited to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), technology suppliers, transportation network companies (TNCs), associations, and public-sector partners.

The meetings will be held in different locations across the country, running from June 2018 through the end of 2018. These meetings will be conducted as 1 to 1.5 day events and generally include 100 to 150 participants. These meetings are meant to gather input and information from stakeholders and will include significant interactive components, such as breakout discussions and listening sessions.

The objectives for the National Dialogue include the following:

1. Listen: Gather input from a broad group of stakeholders on key issues, challenges, and concerns in highway automation, such as infrastructure readiness, traffic operations, transportation planning, and other topics impacted by automation.
2. Engage: Facilitate information sharing between industry, public agencies and others to understand the current state of automated driving systems and roadway capabilities and inform FHWA actions.
3. Evolve: Update institutional structures for working with existing and new stakeholders. Aid in developing new partnerships and strengthening coordination channels between industry, associations, public agencies, and other key groups.
4. Inform: Raise awareness of FHWA and USDOT activities in automation and emerging technologies. Identify opportunities for strategic partnerships between Federal activity and State, local, and industry activity.

Upcoming Events: Getting Involved in the National Dialogue

• June 7, 2018 – National Dialogue Launch Workshop, Detroit, Michigan
  • Select “National Dialogue Launch Workshop, Detroit, Michigan” to be redirected to ITS America’s Annual Meeting Registration Page. Select “Attendee Registration & Housing”. Choose “Registration” and complete the required information.
  • If you are not attending the full conference, select “Workshop Only (Non Member)”.
  • If you have previously registered for the ITS America Annual Meeting but would like to add the National Dialogue Launch Workshop, you can log into the ITS America registration site and modify your registration at no charge.
  • During this registration process, you will have the option of reserving a hotel if desired.
• June 26-27, 2018 – National Workshop 1: Policy and Planning, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (registration open by May 21^st)

National Dialogue on Highway Automation Workshops: Tentative Schedule

Note that National Workshop 4 will tentatively be held in conjunction with the upcoming National Rural ITS and ITS Arizona Annual Conference + Exhibit.

Full details of the National Dialogue, along with recordings of webinars and other materials, are available online.