The purpose of this paper is to take a systems approach to addressing concerns and challenges associated with the deployment of intelligent transportation systems that will help realize their benefits. With respect to the more non-technical or institutional concerns, different challenges will arise depending on the technical and operational contexts within which specific intelligent transportation systems are implemented. In the field of vehicle-highway automation, technical research has been performed focusing on issues uniquely related to passenger vehicles, buses, and trucks. However in the study of institutional issues associated with vehicle-highway automation, a more macroscopic approach has been taken covering general topic areas, such as liability, with somewhat less emphasis on the specific institutional challenges associated with particular vehicle type deployments of automation technology. For truck automation, institutional challenges could arise in several areas. Primary areas where institutional issues for truck automation may arise include labor-management relations, safety and liability concerns, regional planning and land use issues, and inter-organizational relationships. More research is needed in the study of truck automation institutional issues and the linkages that exist where the technical and/or operational domains intersect with the institutional domain. This would then help to reveal a set of tradeoffs that need to be identified and addressed to maximize the potential beneficial impacts of any proposed automated truck system.
Abstract