Challenges to CV and AV Applications in Truck Freight Operations (2017)

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CRP Project HR 20-102(03) 66 C H A P T E R 4 Conclusions and Suggested Research This report has defined a landscape of current and future initiatives in CV and AV. We conclude the report here with a focus on the issues and actions that could be addressed by the various stakeholder communities in order to advance, and to be ready for, advances in the applications’ lifecycles from research through potential deployment. Suggested next steps are categorized below into planning, establishing a proper regulatory environment, supporting further research and testing, developing standards, and supporting deployment. For states, the timing and priority of many suggested next steps are dependent on a state’s plan and timing for pursuing early adoption. Some states have made specific decisions to be ‘early adopters’ in supporting pre-deployment activities particularly in automated applications, and with a view to becoming well- positioned for later deployments. As private solution providers choose to work with states && Having the proper legal and regulatory framework in place is a high priority element for states, and of urgency for those states pursuing early adoptions of automated technologies. Understanding and aligning to federal guidance, and then pursuing the regulatory actions listed below are critical. States must also give priority to the communication and collaboration that is necessary for seamless deployment: coordination with other states in a region, communication to stakeholders including the traveling public, and with the state agencies needed to support deployment. Throughout the listing below are various research needs to understand, and validate assumptions, and better position deployment. 1. Planning  Develop approach to designation of roadways as suitable for highly autonomous vehicle operation. The quality of lane markings and signage could be important for future efforts to license autonomous vehicles for broader public use. With SAE levels 4 and 5 autonomous vehicles, it will likely be important to consider whether there are detailed digital maps available for roadways. For trucks specifically, it will also be important to identify roadway geometric limitations and turning radius restrictions for trucks in these maps. Will information be readily available to autonomous trucks on bridge weight and height restrictions or designated truck routes for example?  Study how to incorporate CV and AV vehicles into scenario analysis: The FAST Act requires such an analysis. How can scenario analysis be used to inform the planning process for autonomous and connected vehicles? What is the range of likely outcomes that should be considered? How will changes in vehicle operating costs affect demand? What is the range of default assumptions that should be considered? Appropriately using scenario analysis techniques and assumptions may be key to incorporating considerations of autonomous and connected vehicles into long-range plans.  Develop a better understanding of the impact of CV and AV technologies on transportation capacity. Long-term planning relies on forecasting the demand for transportation infrastructure in the future. CV and AV technologies for trucks may have an outside impact on the demand for future infrastructure.  Conduct industry outreach to better understand the long-term impacts of CV and AV technologies on logistics. Will autonomous vehicles fundamentally change how the supply chain is managed? Will improvements in efficiency significantly alter historic relationships and trends between economic growth and the demand for freight transportation?

CRP Project HR 20-102(03) 67  Analyze the potential impact of truck platooning on pavement damage. There is uncertainty about the impact of closely spaced truck platoons on roadway pavements and bridges. Additional research would help to understand this issue. The associated issue of autonomous vehicles moving oversize and overweight freight should be considered.  Evaluate the potential environmental impacts of autonomous and connected trucks. While preliminary work in this area has been done, there is little understanding on how these technologies will affect broader traffic operations and air emissions.  Study the impacts of CV and AV technologies on the availability of transportation data. Large volumes of new data may become available for planners, but developing a strategy to ensure privacy and allow data sharing for public use will be critical.  Conduct workforce planning studies to evaluate the future needs of public and private sector organizations. In the public sector, there may be an increased need for technological sophistication and expertise with information technologies.  Evaluate the need for harmonized road markings and signage characteristics. This will be a particularly important issue for long-haul trucks that cross many state borders. 2. Establishing a Proper Regulatory Environment 2.A. Laws  Evaluate the likelihood of federal preemption. In general states that seek to revise or harmonize their laws for CVs and AVs will need to consider which components of law may be preempted by the federal government. In September 2016, NHTSA released its Federal Automated Vehicles Policy. This policy provides model state policy guidance that may be useful for designing coordinated state level policies.  Develop common legal and regulatory definitions. Standardizing the legal terminology used for autonomous vehicles will likely be important to clarifying and harmonizing the law between states. If the general use of autonomous trucks by businesses is restricted to certain geographic areas or environmental conditions in the future, it will be important to clarify and harmonize these categories to facilitate interstate commerce. Designation of roadways with respect to the quality of lane markings and signage could also be important for future efforts to license autonomous vehicles for broader public use. With SAE levels 4 and 5 autonomous vehicles, it will likely be important to consider whether there are detailed digital maps available for roadways. For trucks specifically, it will also be important to classify roads with respect to roadway geometric limitations and turning radius restrictions for trucks in these maps. Will information be readily available to autonomous trucks on bridge weight and height restrictions or designated truck routes for example? Much of these legal and regulatory decisions will have significant implicit on the development of the business case for CV and AV technology.  Coordinate and harmonize state laws that affect truck platooning. Different states currently specify different following distances. Some have speculated that truck platooning should be restricted to rural highway segments where there are few exits, interchanges or merging traffic that could conflict with truck platoons. Additional coordination and communication between state and federal policymakers on this issue could be helpful.  Analyze how state vehicle codes would or should apply to automated vehicles. Analysis should include those that have an identifiable human operator and those that do not.  Standardize the requirements for indicators for platooning and other autonomous vehicle applications when operating in autonomous mode. This could be done either for the national highway network or on a larger scale.  Modify state laws on video displays in cabs to allow for truck platooning concepts that rely on them. Some state laws prohibit video displays that are visible to the driver. Some truck platooning

CRP Project HR 20-102(03) 68 technologies use video displays to allow the driver in the following truck to see what the driver in the lead truck see.  Monitor developments in international law, including the Vienna Convention. Currently this convention does not define any truck specific requirements, but may in the future. 2.B. Policy and Regulation  Develop a pilot program to collect data on potential Hours of Service Rule changes. There has been a lot of speculation that the big payoff for connected and autonomous vehicles will be from improved driver utilization and changes that could be made in the Hours of Service Regulation. Changes to these rules will likely not be made without strong quantitative evidence that safety will be improved. The legal mechanism to collect real world data for alternative versions of the Hours of Service Rule would be required. This could include state waivers, exemptions or pilot programs which could be authorized by FMCSA or Congress.  Conduct research to consider broadly the most appropriate regulatory framework for autonomous vehicle technologies. NHTSA is currently considering requiring approval of automated driving technologies before they reach the road, potentially expanding government oversight of auto makers. Providing timely input into this process could be important to facilitate innovation. Are there other regulatory or voluntary approaches that would work better? Could certain states or regions be allowed to self-select themselves as areas for testing and research outside this new regulatory process? Outreach to industry to broadly gather feedback on these issues would be useful.  Conduct a broad study of autonomous technologies and human factors. What do the experience of other industries – airlines, railroads, NASA (Pavlus 2016) and others – tell us about how to manage autonomous vehicles as they are introduced on the road? What have we learned about human factors in these other areas that could be relevant to reducing risk? There has been considerable concern that the greatest safety risks will occur during the hand-off between the autonomous system and the human.  Study the business case for autonomous technologies. How will companies benefit from AV/CV technology? What are the most important elements of these cost savings – insurance, driver retention, fuel, labor, etc.? What market segments will likely be first adopters? For commercial trucking, what are all of the job responsibilities of a truck driver and what can reasonably be automated?  Conduct a market study of connected vehicle technologies. What technologies are currently being provided by the market and in what areas would public investment in CV and AV technologies be most fruitful? The pace of change in technology development and the market has made new options available to businesses, ports, states and localities. Research is needed to better understand how FRATIS, publically funded electronic inspections technology or other CV and AV technologies overlap with solutions already available from the private sector. This could help to target future public funding to the sectors where there is the most need.  Consider how risk perception may affect the adoption of autonomous vehicles. How does the perception of acceptable risk vary between individually operated vehicles and autonomous or public vehicles where the traveler is no longer in control? Typically customers of public transit or rail have demanded much higher safety and much lower risk than have been required for passenger vehicles on public roadways. Will this serve as a market barrier to autonomous vehicles? How will this affect the regulations that are put into place?  Conduct a cybersecurity study focused on commercial trucks. This study could identify areas where cybersecurity concerns are different for commercial vehicles, identify any risks that are more significant and describe mitigation strategies for commercial vehicles.  Develop enhanced cybersecurity guidance for transportation infrastructure. More practical guidance for practitioners in this area could supplement some security frameworks and general guidance developed by the Department of Homeland Security.

CRP Project HR 20-102(03) 69  Study the impact of quantum computers on future V2V, V2I and autonomous truck cybersecurity. The development of larger scale quantum computers, forecast by some to occur in the next ten years, could render current encryption technology insecure.  Consider allowing pilot programs to test the replacement of side mirrors with camera technology. Camera technologies can provide a driver assist technology that uses automated algorithms to enhance images for drivers. Removing side mirrors also improves fuel economy. The cameras themselves also are available to be integrated with other automated driving systems. 2.C. Enforcement  Create an automated roadside inspection procedure. This automated roadside inspection level could take advantage of the wireless electronic inspection capabilities that have been demonstrated in pilot projects.  Evaluate how to inspect automated vehicles in the future. Manual inspection processes may not capture some of the most important aspects of advanced and highly automated trucks in the future.  Study whether rules for the use of information technology in enforcement can be standardized. Many local police and other enforcement agencies have different rules for using Bluetooth, other wireless technologies or hardware to connect information systems. This could serve as a barrier to some automated enforcement programs. 3. Supporting Further Research and Testing 3.A. CV Applications  Further testing and impact assessment under the safety, mobility, productivity, and environment impact areas are needed to pinpoint the applicability and value of the CV technology for freight, and to justify related investments: – Testing for technology maturity. – Larger scale testing (e.g. through pilot deployments) to ensure that the technology functions properly and effectively with wider deployment. – Assessing impact at different market penetration rates of the CV technology. – Testing under various operational conditions (e.g. different weather & visibility conditions, varying traffic patterns, various roadway geometries and settings). – Human factors testing, to assess driver responsiveness and reactions to different messages provided by the applications.  Additional steps are needed to bridge from federal tests into the market, including: – Document Benefits and lessons learned from early federally funded CV pilot deployments. Lessons Learned from Safety Pilot and the three Connected Vehicle Pilot Deployments are very important to encourage adoption of the CV technology. – Organize outreach to potential public and private partners via round tables and industry days. State and local agencies, as well as the private sector, became very interested in contributing to CV deployment projects in their respective areas when they learned about the potential and the promise of the technology. – Encourage public-private partnerships to accelerate deployment by providing access to technology know-how and funding.  Conduct research to implement improvements to the Basic Safety Message for tractor-trailers for V2V communications. A lot of the CV research to date has focused on light vehicles, including the design of the Basic Safety Message. The Basic Safety Message currently used by tractor-trailers uses a simplified boundary box algorithm for conveying the position and heading of the tractor-trailer. While this is an appropriate approach for passenger cars, it does not accurately capture the location of articulated vehicles. Specifically, it does not accurately identify the trailer position, or vehicle spacing for V2V safety applications for trucks. Since the current Basic Safety Message does not exactly

CRP Project HR 20-102(03) 70 identify the dimensions of the truck, it needs to create a maximum envelope that overestimates the size of the vehicle. This makes it hard to define what is dangerous and limits the effectiveness of the algorithms used to warn drivers. NHTSA and Mercedes-Benz Research & Development North America have conducted the research project “Tractor-Trailer Basic Safety Message Development” to develop a technical solution for the location problem for articulated vehicles. They have developed enhancements to Basic Safety Message, identified system and performance requirements, and assessed Basic Safety Message impact on internal and external vehicle systems. The enhanced Basic Safety Message developed can more accurately transmit position heading for tractor-trailer vehicle combinations and allows for improved safety warnings and fewer false or missed warnings for drivers. (Svenson et al. 2016) Additional research on an automated method to obtain trailer parameters and to implement this solution across the many tractor-trailer combinations in operation could be helpful.  Conduct research into how to incentivize on-board equipment for V2V and V2I applications. Pilot projects have demonstrated the value of V2I applications for trucks. Investment in some of these systems suffers from a network effect problem. The value of investing in these systems increases as the number of trucks with on-board equipment increases. What levels of market penetration are necessary to ensure that the technology provides value to companies and will be adopted? Without public funds, early adopters may find it hard to make a business case for investing in these systems. Since public resources may not be available at sufficient scale across the country, creative business strategies to promote private sector investment may be needed.  Conduct research on the business model for V2I technology investment. Pilot projects are showing the value of V2I deployment for trucks. The way forward with broader scale technology infrastructure investment is less clear. For passenger cars NHTSA has proposed that all light-duty vehicles be required to adopt DSRC, ensuring that it is likely that there will be a standard that all new vehicles can use to communicate. While this approach may also be used for heavy-duty trucks, there is not an advanced notice of proposed rulemaking to specify what type of V2V or V2I communications capability will be required. There are questions about what the role of V2I data for trucks will be in this environment. Will trucks be able to receive information from V2I public sector projects? What types of standards should V2I projects focus on – DSRC, satellite delivery or others? Additional research could help to answer some of these questions.  Conduct research on how V2I technologies will be integrated with existing on-fleet telematics services provided by Qualcomm, Telogis, Drivewyze and others. Currently the market is fragmented with a variety of different technologies and standards being used. How does V2I infrastructure investment fit into this?  Conduct further research to better understand what trucking companies really want from V2V and V2I technologies. For passenger cars the demand for safety applications such as collision avoidance are relatively clear. In trucking there is great demand for particular applications such as truck parking. The use case and role of connected vehicle technologies to solve these problems is still not well developed. What is the role of public and private sector investment? How can public sector resources be used to catalyze additional private sector solutions in this area? 3.B. AV Applications  Opportunities are needed both to understand driver concerns as well as provide appropriate training for drivers. Drivers play an important role in developing these concepts. Significant research has recently been documented, such as for truck platooning (Auburn University 2015), in which ATRI conducted in-depth driver interviews. Outstanding issues that industry needs to look at: – For mixed fleets, drivers that slip seat between truck types may have additional challenges to adapt to the technology including possibly different HMIs.

CRP Project HR 20-102(03) 71 – Particularly at mid-levels of automation, to what extent and how must the truck assess driver alertness as a necessary condition for activation of an automated condition? – How alert will drivers actually remain, as a function of level of automation? – How will drivers react to the technology as it is deployed? To some extent, true reactions including problem areas will require detailed testing by solution providers rather than hypothetical questioning prior to having the technology in-hand. Will driver stress be reduced or increased? Will drivers inherently like and prefer a new environment or oppose it?  OEMs, technology providers, and driver advocates must appropriately collaborate to promote the likelihood of successful adoption. Indeed the drivers are closely intertwined with the deployed technology. Many of the applications described in this report require new levels of interaction, including driver trust in the technology. Concepts of operation need to be crafted for drivers in highly automated vehicles. Drivers that today are responsible for all aspects of their vehicles may have different responsibilities. For example, what will the drivers’ pre-trip inspection include? How will it differ? Industry must consider the strengths and weaknesses of alternative approaches. There are a variety of operational considerations regarding the formation, management, and dissolution of platooning trucks. Additional study is needed.  Conduct testing of automated trucks in poor weather conditions. There is substantial interest in truck platooning and automated trucks, but there are concerns that the technology has not been adequately tested in extreme weather conditions. Additional research to test trucks in adverse weather conditions, particularly in conditions where heavy snow could obscure lane markings or decrease visibility of roadway objects, would be helpful. Icy roadway conditions will also affect stopping differences for trucks in a platoon. Testing automated technologies in the full range of real world conditions is necessary to promote technology adoption.  Consider implementing a winter test bed for automated (and connected) vehicles. The U.S. DOT maintains Mcity to provide a real world environment for automated vehicles. Ford was the first automaker to test autonomous vehicles in poor weather conditions (Ford 2016). An additional test bed could focus specifically on adverse weather conditions including heavy snow, high winds and icy conditions. Testing vehicles consistently in these extreme conditions can help get the technology ready for wider scale adoption.  Bolster the business case for platooning. Understanding the operational environments that are conducive to platooning, and the parameters that influence platooning implementation, is a necessary but largely outstanding need. Weather-based research as described above helps answer a portion of the need, but analysis that is broader in scope and targeted specifically to near-term platooning would be helpful. 4. Developing Technical Standards  Platooning solutions that are vendor specific highlight the need for technical standards, ideally harmonized across the globe, for elements such as data elements, messaging, and communications protocols. Standards development organizations are indeed pursuing technical standards in areas important to the deployment of trucking CV and AV applications; interested stakeholders should keep abreast of developments and influence such standards as deemed important.  Standards development organizations should continue and complete their programs of technical standards development. Any rulemaking action the U.S. DOT might take in the heavy trucking area for V2V will need to be evaluated for standards needs, just as has been done for the light-vehicle rulemaking.

CRP Project HR 20-102(03) 72 5. Supporting Deployment  Communication between stakeholder groups, some of which do not have a history of working together. Examples of communication channels needed include: – This report has documented the wide range of activity taking place in various states. Information exchanges to share findings, challenges, and lessons learned will be increasingly valuable. – States need to involve departments of motor vehicles as well as public safety, which might not have the same level of understanding of CV and AV technologies as DOTs do, to coordinate and plan together. – The heavy technology solutions imply that states might work with their in-state institutions of higher learning to promote development of the skills needed to deploy and maintain future systems. – Planners need to be in these information loops as well, to acquire insights into elements of deployments that touch planning needs, such as parking needs.  Cultivate public outreach. The trucking sector takes advantage of passenger market developments, but it is also heavily affected in the public arena by the passenger market. Public acceptance will be driven in part by developments in the passenger market. (And indeed legislative developments are guided as well. During 2016 legislation to permit platooning pilot testing in Missouri failed for the publically stated reason that safety could not be guaranteed after a fatal accident with a Tesla passenger vehicle earlier in the year.)