Smart policy advised before self-driving ‘revolution’
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Days after the U.S. House of Representatives unanimously approved a bill that aims to level the field for states testing autonomous vehicles technology, a group of nearly 300 transportation executives, industry experts and public officials converged here for the first Pennsylvania Automated Vehicles Summit.
“We do stand at the cusp of a revolution,” said Raj Rajkumar, director of Technologies for Safe and Efficient Transportation, an initiative aimed at research and deployment of efficient technologies.
Before that technology can transform streets into a driverless haven, slow integration of automated vehicles policy will take place.
Mr. Rajkumar, who also is the founder of Carnegie Mellon University spinoff Ottomatika, described the mission of the event at Ramada State College Hotel & Conference Center succinctly — opening a dialogue on policy, planning ahead for the future, regardless of how long it may take to actually produce a fully autonomous vehicle.
Smart policy should succeed smart technology, he said.
That means not only national
legislation and state policy (Mr. Rajkumar called Pennsylvania’s laws “friendly”), but cooperation between universities and local government.
Monday’s summit was convened by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation and the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development.
Alex Graziani, manager for Penn Township in Westmoreland County, noted local authorities are not necessarily proactive in planning for the future of automated vehicles. “Consciously we are not planning for these things, but subconsciously we are,” he said. “That might be a bad idea.”
Municipalities should move beyond operating as testing grounds to becoming active in a conversion to smart infrastructure and policy, he said.
“Zoning laws could screw it up,” Mr. Graziani said.
He offered the example of “beehives” of autonomous vehicles that might be able to complete dozens of trips while his car sits in a parking spot, unproductive. Yet, under Penn Township’s zoning laws, automated vehicles would require a place to park.
He said he would be hesitant to tell local government to invest in infrastructure technology, though, since it’s difficult to manage current infrastructure with a limited budget. “Maybe the Pittsburghs or Philadelphias can do it, but not Penn Township.”
In Pittsburgh, there are three autonomous vehicle test beds fitted with vehicle-to-infrastructure deployments, or V2Is, said Mr. Rajkumar. Smart street lights, just one type of V2I, now are in use at three separate locations in the area, using short-range communications radios to control traffic lights in Cranberry, Ross and along Baum Boulevard and Centre Avenue in Pittsburgh’s East End communities.
Those advancements, however, required significant investment through grants. That’s a city-level game.
Alex Pazuchanics, assistant director for Pittsburgh’s planning, policy and permitting at the Department of Mobility and Infrastructure, said his department is the result of adaptive policy.
The department was created less than a year ago to prepare for the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Smart City Challenge.
“We recognized that the way city council was designed ... for 20th century problems, would not work well for the 21st century,” he said.
The overall challenge, Mr. Pazuchanics said, is ensuring dollars spent on smart infrastructure will remain relevant years down the line, allowing modification as technology changes.
That planning involves “future proofing” streets, he said, recognizing that tech is changing more rapidly than advances in road building or bridge construction.
“The idea of skating where the puck is going is a really important concept for us,” Mr. Pazuchanics said. or 412-263-1707. Twitter: @LinderPG. Courtney Linder: clinder@post-gazette.com