Press Release

Arizona has become the home for testing of self-driving vehicles, and Governor Ducey today updated his 2015 executive order to advance our state’s position as a national leader for the development on this technology while continuing to protect public safety.

In 2015, Governor Ducey signed an executive order that outlined the process for self-driving vehicle testing in the state of Arizona. The executive order established safety guidelines for the testing and operation of self-driving vehicles, but also instructed the state to eliminate unnecessary regulations and hurdles to the new technology.  As a result, Arizona is recognized as a leader in welcoming new technology and innovations. Since the enactment of the executive order, Arizona has become home to testing for many of the technology and automotive companies that are leading the innovation into the new frontier, including General Motors, Waymo, Uber, and Intel. The New York Times even said Arizona is where “self-driving cars go to learn.”

With advancements in technology and testing, today’s order:

• Includes updates to keep pace with emerging technology, including advancements toward fully autonomous vehicles.
• Requires all automated driving systems to be in compliance with all federal and state safety standards, including:
  • The vehicle must achieve a reasonably safe state, such as bringing the vehicle to a complete stop, upon experiencing a failure of the vehicle’s automated driving system.
  • Complying with all Arizona traffic and safety laws.
  • Meeting all applicable certificate, title registration, and licensing and insurance requirements.
  • Instructs the Departments of Public Safety to work with other relevant law enforcement agencies to develop protocols on how first responders shall interact with a fully autonomous vehicle in emergency and traffic enforcement situations.
  • In addition, the vehicle must meet all applicable certificate, title registration, and licensing and insurance requirements.

“As technology advances, our policies and priorities must adapt to remain competitive in today’s economy,” said Governor Ducey. “This executive order embraces new technologies by creating an environment that supports autonomous vehicle innovation and maintains a focus on public safety.”

View a PDF of the executive order here.

The National Operations Center of Excellence will be hosting a five part webinar series covering the SPaT Challenge, including design considerations and deployment.

The American Association of State Highway Transportation Officials (AASHTO), the Institute of Traffic Engineers (ITE), and ITS America (ITSA) working together through the Vehicle to Infrastructure Deployment Coalition (V2I DC) have challenged state and local public sector transportation infrastructure owners and operators (IOOs) to work together to achieve deployment of roadside Dedicated Short Range Communications (DSRC) 5.9 GHz broadcast radio infrastructure to broadcast signal phase and timing (SPaT) in real-time at signalized intersections on at least one road corridor or street network (approximately 20 signalized intersections) in each of the 50 states by January 2020. This is commonly called the SPaT Challenge.

Webinar #1: Initial SPaT Challenge Activities | March 6, 2018 2:00pm – 3:30pm ET

This webinar will serve as an introduction to the workshop series and logistics, available and upcoming SPaT Challenge resources, and the SPaT Challenge model ConOps & Requirements documents. The webinar will also present information regarding costs, procurement, and corridor selection.  More Information and Registration
 

Webinar #2: SPaT Challenge Design Considerations (Part 1) | March 20, 2018 2:00pm – 3:30pm ET

This webinar will present on minimum content for SPaT broadcasts to be verified/validated and signal controller interface/creation of SPaT messages, and DSRC licensing. The webinar will also present examples of designs for assembling SPaT messages.  More information and Registration
 

Webinar #3: SPaT Challenge Design Considerations (Part 2) | April 17, 2018 2:00pm – 3:30pm ET

This webinar will present an overview of MAP messages, examples of MAP message creation approaches, vehicle position correction (needs and solutions) as well as an overview of vehicle position correction (needs and solutions).  More Information and Registration

Webinar #4: SPaT Challenge Design Considerations (Part 3) | May 15, 2018 2:00pm – 3:00pm ET

This webinar will present an overview of intersection and roadside equipment specification, design and installation. This webinar will also discuss backhaul infrastructure design.  More Information and Registration

Webinar #5: SPaT Challenge Deployment & Validation | June 12, 2018 2:00pm – 3:00pm ET

This webinar will present an overview of procurement process, validation/verification of SPaT deployments, and securing SPaT broadcast. This webinar will also discuss potential applications that DOTs could deploy and potential next steps.  More information and Registration

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has recently released the Active Traffic Management Implementation and Operations Guide to provide regional and local agencies guidance on how to strategically and effectively implement and operate Active Traffic Management (ATM) strategies.  The Guide describes the stepwise approach to accomplishing this implementation through the application of the system engineering process; comprehensive planning; and organizational considerations, capabilities, and design considerations. It utilizes a combination of relevant existing resources and documents along with best practices and lessons learned gleaned from early adopters to offer practical guidance. It also emphasizes the value of ATM and what these strategies can offer to operating agencies as part of their broader Transportation Systems Management and Operations (TSMO) program. The intended audience(s) of the Guide includes agencies interested in implementing ATM in their region, as well as agencies that have implemented ATM and are interested in guidance on operating their ATM systems and strategies more effectively.

Webinar: Summary and Introduction to the ATM O&I Guide

PDF Download

This year, as part of ITS Arizona’s silver anniversary, we have partnered with the Institute of Transportation Engineers to provide a historic joint annual conference opportunity for our members.  The National Rural ITS and ITS Arizona Annual Conference + Exhibit will be held October 21-24, 2018 at the We-Ko-Pa Conference Center in Fort McDowell, Arizona.

This year’s theme, Creating ITS Implementation Solutions for All Communities, represents the opportunity to share how leveraging technology applications and resources improves transportation in our communities. This meeting will combine rural ITS experts and Arizona’s transportation thought leaders to create a program that inspires attendees, allows them to create connections and leaves them with knowledge and tools to positively impact their own programs.

The Call for Abstracts is now open, and the deadline for submissions is March 30, 2018. We encourage you to submit an abstract for this upcoming conference, which will have a large audience of ITS professionals from across the country.  To submit an abstract, or for more details on the conference, please see the conference website and stay tuned for more announcements in the weeks ahead.

In late 2017, the National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO) released the Blueprint for Autonomous Urbanism, a “first-of-its-kind street design vision to help cities worldwide prepare for the age of autonomous vehicles. Building on NACTO’s library of street design guidance, the Blueprint envisions a future where cities benefit from new transportation technologies to improve the public realm and build streets that work for people, rather than merely redesigning streets to accommodate emerging technologies.

Developed with a steering committee from NACTO’s 61 member cities and transit agencies and funded by Bloomberg Philanthropies, the Blueprint outlines the physical and policy steps that cities could take to ensure that their streets can be reimagined and redesigned to improve safety, prioritize people and public space, strengthen the role of mass transit and manage the contested curb as automated vehicles arrive on city streets.”

Full NACTO press release