By Patrick Adrian
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BELLOWS FALLS, Vt. — The Village Trustees indicated they may be interested in serving as a test community for automated vehicles in Vermont after learning more from the Vermont Department of Transportation (VTrans) and the Windham Regional Commissions about the program.
In 2021, VTrans will begin considering Vermont towns and cities interested in testing automated vehicles — a class of vehicles that includes driverless cars — in their respective community to inform the state in developing future regulations regarding automated vehicles.
The Automated Vehicles Testing Act, a section of law under Act 60, requires VTrans to publish a testing guide for automated vehicles. The act also requires VTrans to acquire a list of governing bodies that have permitted vehicle testing in their communities. The state’s regional planning commissions are asking the municipalities under their district to vote whether or not they wish to apply.
The trustees said they would like to learn more about the program in order to determine whether testing in the village would be appropriate for their community.
“I’m not necessarily in favor of driverless cars, but maybe as a test community, given Vermont roads and that no community has expressed interest so far in offering to be one,” said Village President Deborah Wright. “The village might not be perfect enough, but we don’t know yet.”
Trustee Stefan Golec said the program could be a good opportunity for the village.
“It doesn’t require us to have any initial investment; it highlights the community and, to quote a phrase, is a ‘step into the twenty first century,’” he said.
Trustee Jonathan Wright agreed that acting as a host for testing would be good exposure for the community and he is interested to learn more about it.
“At some point they are going to be tested in Vermont,” Wright said. “I would be interested to know what the benefits are.”
Municipal Manager Wendy Harrison said that Bellows Falls might provide a good road system to study the challenges of implementing automated vehicles in Vermont.
“We’re a good sample community because we have some pretty challenging roads, with some that are paved, some that are unpaved, some lined and some not,” she said.
Jonathan Wright also noted the village downtown being a unique test space, in that has a considerably large volume of traffic and parking but is a relatively small area.
Harrison said that she would reach out to VTrans and the Windham Regional Commission about possibly scheduling a discussion at a future trustees meeting.
According to a VTrans report on automated vehicles submitted to the Vermont legislature, there are five different levels of automation in vehicles. Not all automated vehicles are “driverless” by definition. For example, vehicles equipped with cruise control fall under the level-one category, whereby the vehicle can assist the driver in limited roles. In level-three automation, the vehicle has full control over limited functions. Level-three vehicles control the speed and monitor surrounding traffic, but inform the driver when he or she needs to take over control. Levels four and five more closely resemble what people often call “driverless cars,” in which the vehicle assumes full control of the driving.
Harrison told the board she once got to drive a level-three automated vehicle in California.
“It was better than I thought it was going to be,” she said. “Though it was on a highway, which is a perfect spot for it.”
The vehicle she drove had a monitor showing the vehicles behind her. It could also regulate its speed, though it could not change lanes on its own.
Harrison said that she had to touch the steering wheel every couple of minutes to notify the system that she was still active.
According to the Vtrans report, Vermont is among the approximately 20 states that still have no legislation related to automated vehicles. As of 2017, about 20 states had enacted legislation or an executive order in place, while 10 reportedly had legislation pending.
Given Vermont’s mountainous and predominantly rural road system, Harrison anticipates limited feasibility for automated vehicles. Though she said they might make sense on the Interstate, such as for commercial trucks.
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