Summary - Fifth Annual Conference on Autonomous Vehicles and Public Transport 2023. Online registration by Cvent

Autonomous vehicles (AVs) have the potential to support transit service expansion with lower capital and operating costs compared with other modes of public transport. Some of these benefits have been realized with automated shuttles, automated bus rapid transit (BRT) and mobility on demand services. Automated commercial vehicle business models including self-driving robo-taxis, automated shared ride vans and SUVs, autonomous pods, driverless trucks and personal rapid transit (PRT) systems at airports have also been impactful and have offered important lessons for transit operations.

The focus, now, is on improving accessibility, efficiency and safety when automation is incorporated in transit operations. With the recent FTA funding, automated bus yards (ABY) are an emerging area of AV applications that are expected to result in significant economic, operational and safety benefits for transit agencies, while enabling them to strengthen automation capabilities. Funding has also been made available for development of advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) for transit buses to help improve bus operator safety and efficiency. Further, there is ongoing research on technologies to enhance the accessibility of future automated buses and services.

To continue to create success stories of AVs in transit, agencies, government authorities and the industry must proactively draft policies and regulations to keep pace with the rapidly evolving technology, resolve challenges related to training of transit operators, invest in communications and data sharing infrastructure, develop standards, and prioritize equity. Going forward, some of the themes expected to take centre stage include new technologies advancing transit equity, AVs and Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS), sustainability and climate impacts, cybersecurity, electric charging infrastructure, teleoperations, 4G/5G for AVs, digital twins, and many more.

To discuss the recent developments and emerging trends, AV America and Global Mass Transit are organizing the fifth edition of the conference on Autonomous Vehicles and Public Transport on March 1-2, 2023 in the San Francisco Marriott Union Square.

The mission of the conference is to discuss recent developments, emerging trends, progress in the deployment of autonomous vehicles for public transit, policy framework, best practices to integrate AVs and public transport, potential use cases of AVs in public transport, strategies for the deployment of AVs to support transit operations, infrastructure required to deploy AVs, and labor force transformation. The conference will showcase case studies, pilot projects, and new and existing technologies for AVs.

The conference will bring together experts from the transit agencies; federal, state, and local governments; metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs); transit operators; AV manufacturers, vehicle technology system suppliers, developers and integrators; bus manufacturers; R&D institutes; academic institutions; and not-for-profits to discuss developments and issues in policy, planning, funding, technology, market development, testing, and deployment of AVs.

Policies, guidelines, and regulations driving the development of AVs
Transit bus automation, STAR Plan
Role of transit agencies/operators in the connected autonomous mobility future
Use cases for shared AV services, including first/last-mile, fixed-route, paratransit, and circulator services and impact on transit
Planning and designing new autonomous and driverless mobility services and integrating them into public transit networks
AVs for improving equity, accessibility and inclusivity
Impact of AV technologies on workforce
Learnings from pilots, case studies and experience so far
Barriers to Level 4 and 5 automation
Infrastructure requirements for the deployment of AVs
Data exchanges with public and private sectors
Data ownership, protection and privacy
Automating bus yards (ABY)
AVs and Mobility-on-Demand
Automated commercial vehicles and lessons for public transit
Best practices from deployment of driverless robo-taxis, shared ride passenger vans, pods, trucks
AVs and Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS)
Role of AVs in smart cities