One of the global leaders in connected car services and transportation analytics, Inrix, has joined the World Economic Forum to help support the worldwide planning and deployment of autonomous vehicles (AVs).
As the international organization for public-private cooperation, the Forum is uniquely positioned to bring together key stakeholders at a time when cities around the world are preparing for the widespread introduction of AVs, which promise transformative benefits, as well as the potential to reshape public and private transportation.
Top experts from the automotive, logistics, public sector, technology and transportation industries will convene to address challenges, and develop a model to successfully test and deploy driverless vehicles. Inrix is a leading provider of driving intelligence for major auto makers and transportation agencies around the world, and has been at the forefront of transforming big data into insight for public and private sector partners since 2005.
Inrix’s autonomous vehicle market lead, Avery Ash, has joined the Forum’s executive working group on the ‘Future of Urban and Autonomous Mobility’ to prepare, deploy and refine AVs in cities around the world. He brings more than a decade of experience in working on policy issues at the intersection of transportation and technology. Ash will make use of Inrix resources and expertise to support the Forum’s work to pilot, test and deploy AVs on public roads in Boston, Massachusetts, in the USA.
The City of Boston was selected as the lead partner by the Forum’s City Challenge. With the support of the executive working group, Boston will develop and implement a 21st century mobility strategy that includes the use of AVs on city streets. The first nuTonomy self-driving vehicles began limited testing in January in the Raymond L Flynn Marine Park in South Boston, and were approved for wider testing in April.
“The World Economic Forum is creating a roadmap for how cities around the world will plan for and deploy driverless vehicles,” said Ash. “Inrix has a proven track record of successfully working with the public and private sectors, and will ensure data-driven planning is at the core of AV deployment efforts. As these vehicles move from pilot tests to more widespread deployment, cities will increasingly rely on mobility data to understand, validate and maximize the potential of this technology.”
Olivier Schwab, the Forum’s head of business engagement, commented, “Inrix’s expertise in urban and autonomous mobility trends will be essential to accelerate the transformation to secure, inclusive, and smart global transportation systems.”
