Huge highways, a booming goods market and, crucially, the least restrictive laws governing autonomous vehicles (AVs) in the United States have turned Texas into the industry’s most desired location.
Several companies, including Aurora Innovation and TuSimple, plan to deploy fully driverless trucks on Texas interstates next year, moving away from current testing that involves back-up safety drivers behind the wheel.
While there have been some limited driverless trials with 18-wheelers in Arizona, a launch in Texas would mark the first commercial use. Alphabet’s Waymo Via and box truck startup Gatic, which counts Wal-Mart as a customer, are setting up hubs in preparation.
Companies have invested billions of dollars in developing technology that they say will increase road safety and reduce truck driver shortages. The self-driving truck industry in the US is expected to grow rapidly over the next decade, with analysts projecting its size to be between $250 billion and $400 billion by 2030.
Daren Anderson, director of innovation at the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), said the state has decided to take a collaborative approach with industry.
But security advocates are concerned.
“Launching this technology to market using regular drivers as beta testers in real-world driving situations potentially puts everyone at risk,” said Ware Wendell, executive director of consumer advocate Texas Watch.
The Texas Department of Public Safety, which regulates Avi, did not respond to a request for comment.
Texas passed its autonomous vehicle bill in 2017, allowing the testing and deployment of driverless vehicles without requiring special registration, data-sharing or additional insurance requirements. The law also prohibits local cities from imposing additional requirements.
A Gatik executive and security researchers said the industry is using the bill as a blueprint for when other states are lobbying to regulate self-driving vehicles.
Security advocates warn that companies are trying to pit states against each other by threatening to take jobs in a more favorable regulatory environment.
The companies say safety is their top priority, and testing on public roads allows them to fine-tune and scale their technology to real-world conditions.
Texas has no known case of an autonomous vehicle-caused accident, but the state leads the U.S. in fatal trucking accidents annually, according to data from the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT).
Texas boasts some of the fastest growing metropolitan areas in the country, as well as several ports of entry from Mexico. It sits in the middle of one of the busiest US freight routes, Atlanta-Los Angeles, which carries more than 8,500 trucks daily, according to the US DOT. Self-driving companies hope to automate many of those highways.
Property developer Hillwood’s sprawling Alliance Texas Logistics Zone near Fort Worth, which includes a freight airport, rail yard and vast regional hubs for Amazon.com, FedEx and UPS, expects to attract more AV trucking.
TuSimple and Gatik have hubs on their 27,000-acre campus. Hillwood’s director of logistics innovation, Ian Kinney, said Hillwood is creating Robotk-friendly infrastructure by reducing left turns that are more complex as they cut traffic, installing 5G networks and building AV-specific warehouse docks. We do.
For trucking companies, Texas’ collaborative regulatory regime explains much of its attractiveness.
“There are other states that have really great ports or connections, but they don’t have the same regulatory environment as Texas,” said Aidan Ali-Sullivan, Waymo’s state policy manager.
With federal AV regulation stalled for many years, it is left to individual states to figure out policies.
Graphic on US AV regulation: https://tmsnrt.rs/3NTJMfo
Waymo, Aurora, TuSimple and Gatik said they are in constant contact with Texas state and local officials.
TxDOT’s Anderson said, “The state is not laissez-faire about the operation of these vehicles, they have to comply with traffic laws.”
The state created an industry task force with some 200 members, including AV companies, automakers, researchers, and regulators, with the goal of preparing Texas for self-driving vehicles.
The industry is lobbying other states, such as Kansas, Oklahoma and Pennsylvania, to imitate this approach.
“It’s a well-structured model and approach for other states to adopt,” said Richard Steiner, GATIK’s chief of policy.
Kansas signed its bill into law last month. The governor’s office could not be reached for comment.
Carnegie Mellon engineering professor Phil Koopman, who tracks AV regulation, opposed the bills in Kansas and Pennsylvania.
“Even if (companies) have the best of intentions, they face unimaginable economic pressure to cut corners,” he said.
Greg Winfree, agency director of Texas A&M University’s Transportation Institute, said he saw no signs that companies were irresponsibly pushing their technology.
Winfree, who is also part of the state-led AV Task Force, is now working on campaigns to inform Texans about the technology that will soon be among them.
“We need to get to a point where seeing a self-driving vehicle is not a cause for alarm, or taking photos and filming,” he said.
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