4. CHAPTER FOUR – POSSIBLE APPROACH TO INTEGRATE SAVS
4.5. Summary of Possible Approach to Integrate SAVs or AVs
The development of AVs is advancing at an exponential rate, and they are expected to en-tirely be available in the market in the next 15 to 17 years. The development of AVs and SAVs are almost the same. The significant differences between them are the speed they operate and the functionality. To integrate SAVs or AVs has requirements which need to be in place for the safe and effective integration of those vehicles. The thesis categorized the requirements into three interconnected topics. The integration of the vehicles demands that the technical development of those vehicles and the infrastructure that supports them to be robust in their functions. The need to have a standard for the development of the vehicles and the policy and regulations needed to safeguard people from the unintended downside of the technological development.
The integration of SAVs or AVs has barriers that are related to the requirements set for the development of the vehicles and the infrastructure. The barriers have the same scope as the requirements with more diverse but intertwined themes. The barriers touch situations involving AVs and their development. They focus on the lack of information surrounding the development, the technical obstacles, the personal knowledge to use the vehicle, moral and ethical challenges, privacy and cybersecurity concerns, legal barriers and lack of infor-mation. The technological development of the vehicles is getting advanced every day. To integrate the vehicles, it is not only about the technical advancement, but mostly about the reliability of the technology. SAVs need to ensure that there is a standard mechanism for the easy usage. The vehicles need a system which avoids situations that could lead to moral or ethical decision making. Moreover, there needs to have a regulation that requires systems to protect privacy and cyber-attacks.
The vehicle development and the status of the development are kept secret by the OEMs and car manufacturers. Today, different ADAS systems are developing to aid the safe ma-neuvering of the vehicle, and they are getting advanced. The communication technologies V2V or V2I are part of the vehicle development that allows the vehicles to communicate to each other or the infrastructure. The communication required is not just between an AV to AV, but AV to manual driven vehicles and vice-versa. The need to communicate with the manually driven vehicles creates a challenge as the old carpark in Norway is vast with vehicles having 19 years age span among the old and the new vehicles. All interviewees agree on the need for V2V or V2I communication in all vehicles. Mr. Godal Holt further highlighted the need for the vehicles to communicate, which is an essential part of the ve-hicles driving autonomously to provide better mobility. (Godal Holt, 2018) However, Mr.
Herland argues that the integration AVs should not depend on the vehicles communicate to each other. He proposed that the OEMs should find a means for the vehicles to drive inde-pendent of the need to communicate to each other.
The development of AVs is at its hype with everyone scoping the surface for opportunities and potentials. Everyone understands that AVs or SAVs are going to bring change, but none knows how the changes will be or how much it will change the city. There is a presumed
potential, but they could also bring unintended issues. The physical infrastructure is not expected to change to integrate SAVs or AVs, but it will require constant maintenance. The roads would need to be in a standard which is acceptable to drive the vehicles safely. AVs requires further a digital infrastructure which is essential for future mobility services in the transport sector. The Vehicles requires the need to have a constant connection and to have advanced positioning systems and 3D visual maps.
Preparing standards usually proceed after the product that needs standardizing has provided service to the public. Most of the time, it is the market that dictates what to standardize.
SAVs or AVs are not available to the public, which also makes the standardizing extra challenging. Internationally there are around 661 relevant ITS standards which cover some parts of the technologies used in the AVs. At the moment, no standard is mandated. Mr.
Hovland mentioned that all the tech industries and OEMs are lobbying all over the world to have their standards rather than the standards provided by the ISO. (Hovland, 2018) Al-most all standardization works of AVs is being conducted internationally. Norway does not have any participation on the current standardization of SAVs. Mr. Husøy further highlights that within Standard Norway, there is a deficiency of essential knowledge and experience to prepare standards. (Husøy, 2018) However, Mr. Jensen acknowledged that Norway not participating in the standardizing of SAVs or AVs could affect the national interests.
Providing regulation and developing policies is a delicate matter that needs time and com-plete understanding of the technology. The Vienna Convention and the UN ECE Regulation 79 describe the requirements for a driver and a steering system in a vehicle. The regulations do not allow the integration of AVs over the level 3. The development of the technology is evolving rapidly that the development complicates between what to regulate and what to standardize. Mr. Husøy recommended that a mandate should regulate every situation that ends in the legal or civil court. (Husøy, 2018) At the moment, no mandate regulate the vehicles, although some have done recommendations guidelines for developers. However, recently Norway has passed a law for the testing of the vehicles on public roads.
As Mr. Scharfe explained to facilitate the implementation of SAVs or AVs would demand the people that regulate the law, people that build the technology and people that implement the technology to work together to prepare regulations and mandate. The development of
Figure 5.1- Stavanger map Source: http://nn.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stavanger_kommune