A new era of transportation is right around the corner—one where driverless, autonomous vehicles cruise public roadways utilizing ever-advancing mobile and location-based electronics to read the roadways and re-route traffic to avoid accidents, congestion, construction, roadway debris, even potholes.
How will these and other technological changes affect America's roadways and highway systems? What should transportation agencies do to prepare for the vehicles of the future? And how can transportation agencies utilize the huge amounts of data being generated by smartphones and Internet-connected devices to improve safety and efficiency? These are just a few of the questions that the new National Operations Center of Excellence (NOCoE ) hopes to answer.
"We are at that juncture of transportation innovation where it's very exciting but also very puzzling and scary," says Dennis Motiani, NOCoE executive director, who leads the center with oversight from a board of directors composed of representatives from state, regional and local transportation agencies, private industry and the federal government.
华盛顿特区的中心于1月推出，旨在通过同行交流研讨会，网络研讨会和峰会来促进运输系统管理和运营（TSM＆O）社区中的合作；持续评估该领域的最佳实践；和电话协助。Nocoe努力的核心是its website这将是州和联邦机构共享案例研究，资源，讨论论坛和活动的集中式枢纽。
So far, only a handful of states have legalized driverless vehicles and allow their makers to test them on public roads, but autonomous vehicle legislation is pending in states across the country. And with Boston-based Lux Research forecasting self-driving cars to become an $87-billion market by 2030, the pressure is on transportation agencies to ready the highways of today for the cars of tomorrow.
Motiani说，问题在于，没有人确定要做什么点。他说：“这使许多DOT政策制定者感到困扰，因为点通常需要10到30年，具体取决于短期和远程计划，以计划，设计和构建复杂的高速公路系统。”“如果这些点不确定未来派高速公路的需求，那么这些点如何计划和设计高速公路。”
Several manufacturers are already moving toward hands-free driving. General Motors is expected to introduce Super Cruise in the 2017 Cadillac that takes control of highway steering, acceleration and braking at speeds of up to 70 mph.
Meanwhile, Google, Mercedes and Volkswagen are testing self-driving cars on California roadways. A fully self-driving car is expected to be a reality in the next decade or two, according to Don Hunt, the NOCoE chair and the former executive director of the Colorado Dept. of Transportation.
亨特说：“运营运输机构的挑战之一是知道在哪里进行长期投资以及在何处削减计划。”“借助自动驾驶汽车，在需要做什么，太少，什么会太多的方面存在很多不确定性。中心是代理商可以提出问题并分享想法并找到解决方案的地方。”
通过跨州机构的合作，该中心希望开发出解决自动驾驶汽车提出的基础设施问题的最佳实践。此类挑战包括如何在城市街道上优化灯光和街道标牌，以了解车辆的雷达视觉，以及是否使用无线技术和传感器网路网络以改善道路和车辆之间的沟通和连通性的更大问题。
