Southern Nevada becomes first region to digitize streets for highly automated vehicles

The Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada (RTC) in the USA has become the first road authority in the world to complete the digitization of its local traffic rules and restrictions for highly automated vehicle (HAV) testing and deployment.

The RTC is using Inrix’s AV Road Rules system to assign, validate and manage ‘rules of the road’ for the safe and effective deployment of HAVs on public roads in two busy areas of Las Vegas where autonomous vehicles will operate. The Inrix AV Road Rules platform enables cities and road authorities to quickly and easily digitize local restrictions such as speed limits, crosswalks, school zones and stop signs, and provide this data via an open API (Application Programming Interface), allowing automakers and HAV operators to ensure vehicles comply with local guidelines and legislation.

Beginning at this week’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES) that is taking place in the city, the RTC has made sure HAV operators have access to ground-truth, road authority-verified traffic guidelines that will help ensure successful operation of automated driving systems on two key areas in Las Vegas: on Fremont Street in downtown Las Vegas and an area near the Las Vegas Convention Center, where vehicles will be operating during CES. AV Road Rules also allows cities to make use of information from HAVs to report infrastructure improvement needs such as potholes, worn lane striping or missing signage, improving safety and performance for all road users.

Seven cities and road authorities and four HAV operators are currently using Inrix AV Road Rules, and many more have expressed interest in joining when it expands later this year. The initial set of pilot users includes five cities in the USA, and Transport for West Midlands and Transport Scotland in the UK. Auto makers and operators slated to use the platform include Jaguar Land Rover, May Mobility, nuTonomy and operators running Renovo’s Aware platform. At CES, Inrix has also joined Partners for Automated Vehicle Education (PAVE), a newly formed coalition of industry, non-profit and academic institutions with one goal: to inform and educate the public and policymakers on the impact HAVs will have on shaping the future of mobility.

“Southern Nevada is committed to staying at the forefront of advanced transportation technology testing and development, so we’re excited to partner with Inrix on this groundbreaking project that focuses on ensuring autonomous vehicles can safely navigate our streets,” said RTC general manager Tina Quigley. “Inrix AV Road Rules lays the foundation for piloting HAVs on public streets by facilitating access to an important data set that road authorities are in the unique position to provide.”

Avery Ash, head of autonomous mobility at Inrix, commented, “Automated vehicles are poised to dramatically improve mobility around the world, making vehicle travel safer, more efficient and higher quality. Data plays a central role in the safe operation of HAVs on public roads. By leveraging our AV Road Rules to digitize local traffic rules and restrictions, Southern Nevada is taking the necessary steps to ensure successful testing of HAVs.”