Driverless Systems Offer Benefits, Jobs: DOT Secretary Foxx
Burney Simpson
Connected vehicles and autonomous driving offer tremendous benefits to the American transportation system and the public will embrace the technology once they learn more about driverless systems, U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said on Monday at the Transportation Research Board 94th Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C.
“Vehicle to vehicle technology is the foundation to autonomous vehicles. It’s a tremendous advance. Once people experience the upside of this technology they will gravitate toward it.” Foxx said. “The future is very bright, it’s a very exciting time to be here.”
Proponents of driverless transportation and connected vehicles argue that the technology will mean fewer accidents and safer roads. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that human error is the cause of 93 percent of crashes.
Foxx told Driverless Transportation that autonomous driving should mean more jobs, from central planning to the local level. “Technology is changing things for both car repair and upscale workers,” said Foxx. “There will be an opportunity to get more people in that space as the technology evolves.”
Foxx spoke to several thousand attendees of the TRB meeting about the DOT’s soon-to-be-released 30-year framework for the U.S. transportation system.
The Washington, D.C.-based TRB provides information and research results for transportation researchers, public officials, academics, and other professionals. Its annual meeting draws about 12,000 attendees from around the world. This year it features more than 4,500 presentations in about 750 sessions and workshops, along with more than 200 exhibitors.
