What Do We Want from Autonomous Vehicles (AVs)? Using Participatory Planning and Scenario Analysis of Alternative Futures to Identify Stakeholders’ Desired Outcomes from the Strategic Deployment of Emerging Transportation Technology

This research will use the Transportation Indicator for Sustainable Places (TISP) previously developed by the research group as a framework for evaluating the potential outcomes of three different scenarios under which autonomous vehicles (AVs) could be deployed. The output of this initial deliverable will form the basis for thinking through the wide array of impacts that AVs may have on society, the economy, and the environment. Structured and semi‐structured interviews and focus groups with State department of transportation (DOT) officials, the general public, and transportation advocacy groups will be held with the intention of better understanding which of the potential outcomes various stakeholders object to the least/most, and to frame the question of what people would actually like AV technology to do. This research will reframe the current debate surrounding emerging AV technology as an inevitable sign of ‘progress’ from something that stakeholders (particularly state agencies) need to react to, to a more proactive discussion that focuses on what outcomes society would like to achieve through the strategic deployment of AV technology. The goal is to avoid repeating mistakes of the past in which people’s needs were subjugated by special interest groups who have a vested interest in championing the benefits of superior technology. Instead of passively responding to technological changes, society—and public agencies such as DOTs that serve society—will be better positioned to shape the outcomes of this ‘socio‐technological’ transition.

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Completed
• Funding: $119898
• Contract Numbers:

  69A3551747133

• Sponsor Organizations:

  Center for Advanced Multimodal Mobility Solutions and Education

  University of North Carolina, Charlotte
  Charlotte, NC  United States  28223

  Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology

  University Transportation Centers Program
  Department of Transportation
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Managing Organizations:

  University of North Carolina, Charlotte

  Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
  9201 University City Boulevard
  Charlotte, NC  United States  28223-0001
• Project Managers:

  Fan, Wei

• Performing Organizations:

  University of Connecticut, Storrs

  Storrs, CT  United States  06268-5202
• Principal Investigators:

  Atkinson-Palombo, Carol

  Garrick, Norman

• Start Date: 20171001
• Expected Completion Date: 20190930
• Actual Completion Date: 20190930

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Focus groups; Forecasting; Highways; Impacts; Intelligent vehicles; Stakeholders; Strategic planning; Surveys; Technological innovations
• Subject Areas: Highways; Planning and Forecasting; Vehicles and Equipment;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01652823
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: Center for Advanced Multimodal Mobility Solutions and Education
• Contract Numbers: 69A3551747133
• Files: UTC, RIP
• Created Date: Dec 3 2017 8:39PM