The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) announced Thursday that it is moving forward in its national leadership in the realm of Highly Automated Vehicles (HAV).
“As automated and connected vehicle technologies advance, it’s critical that we ensure they develop safely and in partnership with these companies,” said PennDOT Secretary Yassmin Gramian. “I’m proud of the leadership that we and our partners at the state, in academia, and the industry are showing as we move Pennsylvania into the future.”
Following discussions with the state’s Autonomous Vehicle Policy Task Force, as well as more than a dozen automated vehicle technology companies, the department has developed testing guidance for automated vehicle stakeholders. The guidance includes processes for applying to test autonomous vehicles, revocation of the authorization to test, what kinds of emergency plans should be in place before testing begins, and crash reporting, among other things.
Additionally, PennDOT was identified by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) as one of seven states and nine companies to participate in the inaugural web pilot of the U.S. DOT’s Automated Vehicle Transparency and Engagement for Safety Testing (AV TEST) initiative, which aims to improve the safety and testing transparency for automated driving systems.
PennDOT was also asked to join the Partners for Automated Vehicle Education’s (PAVE) Public Sector Advisory Council – a group of public sector organizations working with PAVE’s automated vehicle consumer education campaign.
Recently, Pennsylvania’s Highly Automate Vehicle Advisory Committee published its first annual report on PennDOT’s Highly Automated Vehicle Advisory Committee webpage.