PAVE: What AV deployments/tests have taken place in Pittsburgh?
There are six AV testers operating in Pittsburgh — Carnegie Mellon University, Aptiv, Argo AI, Aurora Innovation, Uber, and Nvidia. Additionally, Starship Technologies operates autonomous personal delivery devices in Pittsburgh’s Oakland neighborhood.
PAVE: How has Pittsburgh prepared for these AVs? What steps have you taken?
Pittsburgh collaborates regularly with public and private stakeholders. Pittsburgh has three advisory groups comprised of various stakeholders. The first is our AV testers advisory group which is comprised of Pittsburgh’s 6 AV testers. The six AV testers operating in Pittsburgh are Carnegie Mellon University, Aptiv, Argo AI, Aurora Innovation, Uber, and Nvidia. The second group is a policy advisory group comprised of city, county, and state representatives. The third is our shared & autonomous mobility advisory group, comprised of public stakeholders from various advocacy groups. The members of these groups range from pro-AV to neutral-AV, to skeptical-AV, to anti-AV.
PAVE: What is the most important thing you’ve learned from these experiences?
The most important thing we’ve learned in Pittsburgh so far is that collaboration with our residents and the private sector are critical. Because AVs are still in the testing and development stage, we have an opportunity to plan for deployment together and allow all voices to be heard. Pittsburgh is taking seriously the opportunity to collaborate with our residents and the private sector in order to use autonomous technology to improve our city while also avoiding potential unintended consequences the technology could present.
Read more about Pittsburgh’s Department of Mobility and Infrastructure and its work with Autonomous Vehicles on their website here or follow them on Twitter.
