{"id":4620,"date":"2016-09-26T15:02:32","date_gmt":"2016-09-26T19:02:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ncjolt.org\/?p=4620"},"modified":"2020-06-04T20:53:00","modified_gmt":"2020-06-04T20:53:00","slug":"uber-steel-city","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/journals.law.unc.edu\/ncjolt\/blogs\/uber-steel-city\/","title":{"rendered":"Auto-Uber in the Steel City: While Pittsburgh Hosts Uber\u2019s Autonomous Vehicle Testing, PA Pushes for New Laws"},"content":{"rendered":"

On September 14th<\/sup>, Uber<\/a><\/span> unveiled its first self-driving vehicles in Pittsburgh, PA.\u00a0 So, you\u2019re ready to pick up your phone and order up one these automated Ubers to whisk you away to the Steelers game.\u00a0 Picture yourself cruising up to Heinz Field just like Knight Rider<\/a> <\/span>(the David Hasselhoff version, of course).\u00a0 Well, pump those automated brakes because, for now, you\u2019ll be picked up by an automated Uber complete with a huge and very un-sexy rooftop camera system and the only thing talking to you will be the (entirely human) test driver.\u00a0 As it turns out, Pittsburgh is just the testing grounds for Uber\u2019s self-driving vehicle project.
\nWhy Pittsburgh, you ask?\u00a0 Unlike places such as California<\/a><\/span>, Pennsylvania is currently regulation free<\/a><\/span> when it comes to automated vehicles.\u00a0 What\u2019s more, under the current laws, anyone with a valid driver\u2019s license<\/a><\/span> can operate an automated vehicle (your friendly test driver).\u00a0 \u201cAs long as there is a licensed driver in the driver\u2019s seat operating the vehicle, they do not need to be touching the steering wheel,\u201d said Kurt Myers, the deputy secretary for Driver and Vehicle Services for the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.
\nBut Uber has faced its share of roadblocks<\/a><\/span>, even in Pennsylvania.\u00a0 Pennsylvania requires that any new business planning to charge the general public for transportation services first secure proper authority from the state Public Utility Commission before beginning the service.\u00a0 The PUC has already fined Uber almost $11.4 million<\/a> <\/span>for operating its everyday ride-sharing program without agency approval in 2014.\u00a0 And, up to this point, the PUC has not authorized any use of fully autonomous vehicles for transportation services.
\nWhich brings us back to your trip to Heinz Field.\u00a0 You won\u2019t get to ride in KITT, but at least your human-laden test ride will be free<\/a><\/span>.\u00a0 That\u2019s right, Uber still can\u2019t operate its autonomous ride sharing program without approval from the PUC, but it can test drive them.\u00a0 And you can ride along, as long as Uber doesn\u2019t charge any money.\u00a0 Uber is limiting this privilege to some of its regular users, giving them the option of paying for a standard Uber or electing a free, autonomous one.
\nDespite the rough start to their relationship, the city of Pittsburgh and the State of Pennsylvania welcome Uber\u2019s presence.\u00a0 In fact, the testing project has garnered open support from Pittsburgh Mayor, Bill Peduto<\/a><\/span>.\u00a0 Government officials join Uber in praising the new technology.\u00a0 Uber\u2019s goal is to use this testing to help develop a fully autonomous vehicle, one that has been considered \u201cFull Self-Driving Automation\u201d<\/a><\/span> by the NHTSA (unlike Google\u2019s self-driving car<\/a><\/span>, which was only considered \u201cLimited Self-Driving Automation).\u00a0 All parties seem to agree that Uber\u2019s new technology could provide many benefits for Pittsburgh and Pennsylvania as a whole, such as: reductions in emissions and traffic, economic growth, and a drastic decline in the number of deaths from automotive accidents.
\nPA lawmakers have been working for months to jump-start legislation<\/a><\/span> that would set the stage for autonomous vehicle testing, specifically providing for Full Self-Driving Automation.\u00a0 In fact, two such bills are already under review in Pennsylvania\u2019s Senate Transportation Committee<\/a> <\/span>and House Rules Committee.<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

They all want Uber in Pittsburgh, they just want Uber to play by the rules.\u00a0 Unfortunately, no one has known exactly what those rules are.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

 
\nBut it looks like that\u2019s all about to change.\u00a0 Last week, the NHTSA released a new Federal Automated Vehicles Policy<\/a><\/span>.\u00a0 The new Policy sets forth guidelines rather than regulations<\/a><\/span>, and acts as a framework for future state and federal actions.\u00a0 The Policy adopts the SAE International definitions for automation (under which Uber\u2019s car would be considered \u201cHigh Automation\u201d).\u00a0 \u201cThe guidelines clearly demonstrate the federal government\u2019s support for driverless cars, and serve as a regulatory blueprint to \u2018accelerate the HAV [highly autonomous vehicle] revolution<\/a><\/span>\u2019 safely and consistently across the nation.\u201d\u00a0 To this end, the Policy lays out a \u201cModel State Policy\u201d, the goal of which \u201cis to avoid having 50 different, competing sets of rules<\/a><\/span> for driverless cars between states.\u201d\u00a0 However, some facets of regulation, like accident liability, are left entirely up to state discretion.
\nThese new guidelines couldn\u2019t come soon enough for Pennsylvania lawmakers.\u00a0 In June, Pennsylvania took the initiative to set up an Autonomous Vehicles Testing Policy Task Force<\/a><\/span>.\u00a0 The Task Force is led by the Pennsylvania DOT and is made up of state, federal and private-industry officials who are collaborating to guide PennDOT\u2019s eventual policies.\u00a0 The Task Force has been waiting for additional input from the NHTSA\u2019s new guidelines, and is expected to release official policy recommendations in November.\u00a0 If all goes well, and Pennsylvania\u2019s pending bills become law, the state \u201cwill have implementation guidelines<\/a><\/span> ready to roll.\u201d\u00a0 This would be a huge accomplishment for Pennsylvania, likely placing the state out in front in the race toward vehicular autonomy.
\nDon\u2019t worry my futuristic-minded friends, the self-driving car will be coming soon(ish) to a city near you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On September 14th, Uber unveiled its first self-driving vehicles in Pittsburgh, PA.\u00a0 So, you\u2019re ready to pick up your phone and order up one these automated Ubers to whisk you away to the Steelers game.\u00a0 Picture yourself cruising up to Heinz Field just like Knight Rider (the David Hasselhoff version, of course).\u00a0 Well, pump those …<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4621,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[51],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/journals.law.unc.edu\/ncjolt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4620"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/journals.law.unc.edu\/ncjolt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/journals.law.unc.edu\/ncjolt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journals.law.unc.edu\/ncjolt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journals.law.unc.edu\/ncjolt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4620"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/journals.law.unc.edu\/ncjolt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4620\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7180,"href":"https:\/\/journals.law.unc.edu\/ncjolt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4620\/revisions\/7180"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journals.law.unc.edu\/ncjolt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4621"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/journals.law.unc.edu\/ncjolt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4620"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journals.law.unc.edu\/ncjolt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4620"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journals.law.unc.edu\/ncjolt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4620"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}