On May 20, 2014, UTRC organized and hosted a roundtable meeting on Connected and Autonomous Vehicles. The roundtable was held at the College of Nanoscale Science Engineering (CNSE) facility at Albany Union Station. Representative from the New York State Governor Office, New Yorks State Department of Transportation, New York State Department of Motor Vehicles, New York State Police, United State Department of Transportation, City University of New York, State University of New York, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, New York University, and private sectors have participated in the discussions.

The primary goal of the roundtable discussion was to build on the momentum of our previous two successful workshops, and meetings around a relatively small group of the key players in the field to a half-day brainstorming and discussion session in Albany. The participants have discussed: (1) the opportunities and challenges that CV/AV will present to New York State; (2) enumerated the steps needed to be taken to take advantage of the technology, to advance the state-of-the-art in CV and AVs, and to establish New York State as a leader in the field; and (3) identified a niche for the state in this very large emerging market. With respect to a “niche” area, the following three possible opportunities were mentioned: (1) the geographic diversity of the state may offer unique opportunities for testing and evaluation of CV and AV applications; (2) the unique urban and transportation environment of NYC may provide opportunities for developing applications for transit, multi-modal transportation, pedestrians, freight, etc.; and (3) the harsh winter environment of Upstate NY may also present both challenges as well as opportunities for the CV and AV industry).

The participants are to continue the dialogue and plan to host a symposium during the Fall on opportunities and challenges presented by these technologies for New York State.