In a report presented to Gov. Rick Snyder this week, the Michigan Council on Future Mobility laid out a series of recommendations meant to support the legal, economic, and regulatory needs of the mobility industry in-state.
If pursued, the plans would affect both the connected and autonomous vehicle industries. They promote advancement through private-public collaboration, but also touch on a number of areas. They seek to better educate policymakers on the needs and solutions for all modes of transportation. They also recommended development of an educational, professional and personal environment that attracts and retains the talent needed to maintain and grow the transportation industry.
Additionally, there is a need to beef of cybersecurity standards, as well as evaluate implications raised by risk management, insurance, and product liability laws — which has been shown to be somewhat of a grey area for automated vehicles. Structural improvements to existing infrastructure will also be critical, along with the promotion of equal access. In the latter’s case, the report notably addressed making this field still equitable to the economically and physically disadvantaged, as well as seniors.
Yet all of this also comes with an eye on branding Michigan as the center of mobility development and as a model to other states.
“I have been traveling nationally and internationally to promote Michigan as a leader in automotive design and manufacturing with the technical expertise to usher in the next era of transportation,” Snyder said. “These public policy recommendations provide a rigorous framework and practical methods to address the many forms of mobility that are rapidly becoming a reality. Many of the issues contained in the report are the same as those that come up in discussions when I travel to promote Michigan as the mobility capital of the world, and this input helps to answer those questions and show that we are staying at the forefront of all things mobility.”
The recommendations build on a mobility push Michigan has been making for several years now. It participated in the ITS World Congress in Montreal last October and will host the ITS America Annual Meeting in Detroit this June. It has also formed PlantM, a partnership of mobility organizations, communities, schools, research and development, and government agencies alike, with the sole goal of developing and deploying new mobility tech.