Autonomous Vehicle Testbed Pilot Design and Evaluation

District Department of Transportation (DDOT) is preparing regulations to establish an Autonomous Vehicle (AV) Testing Program in the District of Columbia that will allow companies to obtain permits to test AVs on DC streets. DDOT needs to be able to know what is happening with these fleets once permitted – to monitor safety and operations for oversight purposes, to inform questions that should be asked before fleets expand or are authorized to begin additional services or fully deploy, and to begin to understand the likely impacts (both risks and opportunities) of AVs on travel and traffic management in the District. To address this need, DDOT is proposing to designate a zone as an "AV Testbed" and install sensors for monitoring as well as conduct community and stakeholder engagement. This research project is a pilot of a broader testbed. The research project will prove out the feasibility of the monitoring technologies and approaches at 3 locations and develop a deployment plan for the full testbed. It will also start the community engagement process around the notion of an AV testbed to ensure the community is a partner at the table in this effort, informing and participating in the testing and evaluation of AVs. Finally, it will build the data management structure that will enable broader use of this data by DDOT, academics, industry, and other public agencies, as well as enabling public transparency around AV performance. The project has two primary objectives: (1) Enable independent monitoring of AV test vehicles, watching for: (a) vehicle interactions with other modes and vehicles, (b) curbside interactions for loading/pick up and drop off activities, and (c) ability to handle unusual or unexpected events. (2) Collect system data to provide baseline system understanding to compare AV operations against and to leverage the technology investments. Critically, the monitoring should be done in a privacy-protecting manner as much as possible. The research team will work to identify solutions that allow us to see the actions of the AVs but not track individuals or retain identifying characteristics.

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Programmed
• Funding: $250000
• Sponsor Organizations:

  District Department of Transportation

  250 M Street, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20003
• Project Managers:

  Dock, Stephanie

• Principal Investigators:

  Hamdar, Samer

  Ban, Xuegang

• Start Date: 20231101
• Expected Completion Date: 20250530
• Actual Completion Date: 0

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Autonomous vehicles; Data management; Monitoring; Outreach; Vehicle tests
• Geographic Terms: Washington (District of Columbia)
• Subject Areas: Data and Information Technology; Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; Research; Vehicles and Equipment;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01893268
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: District Department of Transportation
• Files: RIP, STATEDOT
• Created Date: Sep 15 2023 9:33AM