This document summarizes key issues around legal and regulatory frameworks for shared and autonomous transport. It discusses both positive and negative views of vehicle automation, and outlines some of the challenges policymakers face in managing the transition while avoiding potential risks. Specifically, it notes that governments will need to develop flexible regulatory approaches to guide testing and deployment of these technologies, address safety and security concerns, and consider impacts on mobility services and labor markets. The document was presented by Dr. Tom Voege of the International Transport Forum to provide an overview of their work related to autonomous vehicles and data-driven transport policy.

1. Legalise it: legal and regulatory issues in the
context of shared and autonomous transport
Dr. Tom Voege, Policy Analyst
International Transport Forum (ITF) of the OECD
Shared Mobility Rocks, Aalst, 21.03.2018

2. The International Transport Forum of the OECD
Think Tank
Annual
Summit
Intergovernmental
Organisation

3. Autonomous Vehicles in Popular Culture…

4. …and some current concepts…

5. …so, where are we now?
• Vehicle automation is a clear trend
• But there are varying expert opinions on e.g.:
 Projected time scales
 Technology options
 Use cases/ services
• And positive and negative are scenarios possible
• It is therefore necessary for policy makers to
prepare their responses to this development

6. Vehicle automation - a positive view
• Many potential benefits of vehicle automation are
being quoted:
 Improved road safety levels
 Decreased emissions
 Increased network capacity
• Emergence of related mobility services also holds
the promise for even larger benefits:
 For society as a whole
 On the city level

7. Vehicle automation - a negative view
• But at the same time some negative effects could
also be envisaged:
 Network capacity gains leading to induced traffic
 Ability of using travel time more productively leading to
longer trips as people move further away from centres
 This in turn then leads to further urban sprawl
 Potentially huge fleets of empty vehicles running errands and
generating much larger congestion levels
 Wider labour market effects (freight and passenger transport)

8. Competing players and roles
• Governments investing in R&D & demonstration
of near market-ready systems, showcasing their
ambitions for leadership in this space
• Emerging companies with much stronger IT focus
in technical background and leadership mentality
aggressively pushing into the market
• Vehicle automation thus part of the concepts of:
 Sharing economy
 Disrupting technologies

9. Government roles and responses
• Policy makers to manage the transition period
• Lock-in benefits while avoiding potential risks
• Key tools are legal and regulatory frameworks
• Often seen as a barrier to wider implementation
• Technology-led discussion often overly optimistic
• But technology mature for variety of use cases
• Leadership from policy makers is thus essential
• Updates to type approval process for vehicles
• Regulation of transport services + labour market

10. Developing regulatory frameworks
• “Stretching” of current rules and regulations
• An imperfect but comparably easy approach
• This has both advantages and disadvantages
• Possible for lower automation levels (assistance)
• “Breaking point” when nearing full autonomy
• Either risk regulatory difficulties and lose control
over developments or hinder technology uptake
• Or develop more flexible regulatory approaches
• Consider a move to data-driven governance

11. Safety and security issues
• Testing: from simulation, to private track, public
roads with safety driver, and then public roads
• SAE Levels vs. policy vs. customers expectation
• Avoid any brand-specific performance standards
• OEMs to develop specific cyber-security policy
• Broadening regulatory framework (infotainment)
• Considering future scenarios and move towards
new mobility services (fleets) for policy advise

12. Based on ITF Work on autonomous vehicles
• Roundtable on “Co-operative Mobility Systems
and Automated Driving“ with Transport Canada
• Roundtable on “Commercial Vehicle On-Board
Safety Systems” with FMCSA of the US DOT
• CPB Project on “Safety and Security on the
Road to Automated Transport”
• CPB Project on “Data-driven Transport Policy”
• Consecutive CPB Project on modelling of the
impacts on cities of shared mobility systems

13. Closing remark: 2017 Gartner Hype-Cycle…

14. …and an alternative version (Prof. G. Currie)

15. Dr. Tom Voege
Policy Analyst
International Transport Forum
Tel: +33 (0) 1 45 24 97 24
Fax: +33 (0) 1 45 24 13 22
tom.voege@itf-oecd.org
www.itf-oecd.org
Thank you for your attention!