Page 18 - Annual Report - interactive demo

Outreach & Technology Transfer
6th Symposium on Connected and Autonomous Vehicles
Focus on Deployment
As autonomous and connected vehicle technology becomes increasingly sophisticated, the question becomes not if a world of self-driving cars will become
a reality, but when. But as widespread deployment approaches, increasingly urgent concerns about safety, security, privacy and legal issues surrounding connected and autonomous vehicles are emerging. In an effort to address these questions, C2SMART hosted the 6th NYC Symposium on Connected and Autonomous Vehicles. The event brought together engineers, researchers, gov- ernment agency representatives, and a range of other speakers and attendees.
Keynote speaker Steven Shladover from the University of California Berkeley PATH program brought more than four decades of experience in transportation engineering and pioneering research to his analysis of the practi-
cal challenges involved in deploying highly automated vehicles, starting with the problems with the very words used to talk about these vehicles. Shladover also rein- forced the importance of developing automated vehicles that are connected, arguing that automation without connectivity will actually be bad for traffic flow, and potentially safety as well.
The event also showed how these technologies are already becoming a reality in New York City through
the city’s USDOT Connected Vehicle Pilot Project. The project, which C2SMART researchers are currently involved with, aims to improve the safety of travelers, including pedestrians, in the city through the deployment of vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure con- nected vehicle technologies. Mohamad Talas, who is the Director of System Engineering at NYCDOT and super- vises the NYC CV Project, gave an in-depth look at the project’s current status and the safety applications and devices under development. Jonathan Walker, Program Manager, Research and Demonstration at USDOT’s ITS Joint Program Office, offered some lessons learned from related Connected Vehicle Pilot projects in other locations around the country.
17 C2SMART Center Annual Report