Are you getting ready for AVs? 93% of U.S. municipalities say yes

Autonomous vehicles are coming: Most U.S. municipalities (93%) believe they will need to be ready to welcome driverless autonomous vehicles on their streets within the next five years.

This is one of the key findings of a study conducted by Verra Mobility Corporation, which also found that 52% of city technology leaders surveyed would like to use artificial intelligence (AI) to identify road safety priorities.

The survey of technology leaders in cities of all sizes was conducted by Wakefield Research.

“This study confirms that cities face many challenges during this exciting period of transition in the transportation sector, and technology is at the heart of the solution,” said David Roberts, President and CEO of Verra.

“Autonomous, connected, electric and shared mobility elements have already arrived in one form or another and continue to evolve. Although AI shows great promise, our survey found that cities still struggle to collect or analyze the data they need to make informed mobility decisions. City technology leaders must capitalize on these trends at a pivotal moment when fatalities on U.S. roads are at a nearly 16-year high. »

The investigation also revealed that:

55% of municipal technology leaders rank “reducing road safety incidents” as a top three priority for technology solutions.
43% of respondents say their jurisdiction has deprioritized support for electric vehicle infrastructure because consumer demand for the technology has not kept pace with predictions.
81% anticipate that some systems will need to be updated before they are ready to integrate connected vehicle technology into their mobility initiatives.
The influx of e-bikes, e-scooters and other shared vehicles has complicated technology-driven mobility efforts for 84% of municipalities.
73% face analytics barriers that prevent them from using their data to implement or improve their mobility and safety initiatives.

“While respondents emphasized the urgency of preparing for the arrival of autonomous vehicles, the reality is that there will be human-driven vehicles on our roads for decades to come,” Roberts said.

“And even as commercial vehicles become an increasingly common feature on our roads, we will discover new safety challenges as human drivers interact with advanced machines. Our survey results underscore the need for city leaders, automakers, technology providers and safety advocates to come together. finding ways to make transportation easier, more efficient and much safer than it is today. »