The Centralina Council of Governments has partnered with Cambridge Systematics to plan and host three workshops for public and private sector organizations focusing on the benefits, challenges and impacts of autonomous and connected vehicles (ACV) to North Carolina’s transportation network. The workshops, titled “Clearing the Hype,” “Discussing the Impacts” and “Developing an Action Plan,” will take place in Charlotte on August 23, September 20 and October 25, respectively.
Cambridge Systematics transportation experts Mark Jensen, Stacy Cook, Marty Milkovits and Sam Van Hecke will be joined by speakers from the North Carolina Department of Transportation, Jacobs Engineering, Kimley-Horn & Associates, HERE and others to educate attendees on:
- Emerging and disruptive ACV trends, looking into NCDOT’s early strategy and involvement in a NC ACV Roadmap and educating on the role key stakeholders will play to help ensure that ACVs work for, not against the community.
- Potential impacts that ACV could have on the region, including regulatory issues, public transportation, capital programming, land use, and transportation planning efforts.
- Developing preliminary, high-level action steps for the region to work together to incorporate inputs from the community into planning.
“CCOG is one of the first to raise awareness and preparedness levels of ACV’s impact with Charlotte’s local and regional leaders,” said Alpesh Patel, CS’ office director and senior transportation planning professional based in Raleigh. “This type of dialogue at the local level is crucial for success in the coming years.”
Workshop attendees will represent a range of public and private sector organizations including: Metropolitan Planning Organizations, Regional Planning Organizations, city and county transportation planners, NCDOT, local government fleet managers, universities, private sector freight companies, local transit providers, transportation advisory boards, and mobility management agencies, in addition to transportation policy board members.
“ACV technology alters the development of long range plans, forecasting tools and other transportation resources; the goal of these workshops is to equip North Carolina’s leaders with a better understanding of how to mitigate the challenges and reap the benefits,” said Patel.
