How INRIX software could make roads safe for autonomous vehicles

Ensuring highly autonomous vehicles (HAVs) drive safely on our roads is a major issue facing local governments, as this form of technology becomes increasingly prevalent.

Now a US company believes it has the solution, with its software that automates rules of the road.

Transportation analytics company INRIX has released INRIX AV Road Rules, thought to be the first platform that enables cities and road authorities to assign, validate and manage traffic rules and restrictions for autonomous vehicles operating on public roads. The platform also leverages information from HAVs to report infrastructure improvement needs, making the roads safer for all users.

Avery Ash, head of autonomous mobility at INRIX, said: “If deployed correctly, highly automated vehicles will radically improve our transportation systems, making them safer, more efficient and higher quality. After talking to hundreds of cities and dozens of HAV operators, we identified a critical data gap that INRIX is uniquely positioned to address. INRIX AV Road Rules marks an essential new tool for transportation agencies to lay a foundation for the safe operation of HAVs on public roads.”

While HAVs have greatly improved the ability to operate in complex traffic environments, INRIX argues that street signs and lane stripes are an inexact way to communicate rules to these vehicles. INRIX AV Road Rules has been created for cities to quickly and easily digitise local restrictions such as speed limits, pedestrian crossings, school zones and stop signs.

The platform also creates a channel to communicate road infrastructure needs from HAVs back to transportation agencies, which improves safety and performance for all road users.

At launch, 7 US cities and road authorities and 4 HAV operators have signed on to use INRIX AV Road Rules. The initial set of partners will help refine and expand the platform to improve a tool for road authorities to fulfill their traditional role of setting and maintaining traffic rules and restrictions.

Jaguar Land Rover is one of the companies signed up to trial the technology. Chris Holmes, connected and autonomous vehicle research senior manager at Jaguar Land Rover, said: “Self-driving vehicles are stimulating conversations globally, but they are in fact a very local challenge. Road conditions and layouts can vary drastically over a matter of miles and so it is vital that self-driving is facilitated collaboratively. Local traffic authorities play a significant role in this. INRIX AV Road Rules provides improved information to the car, ensuring our self-driving technology is the most safe, sophisticated and capable to deal with challenging real-world environments as we enter new markets across the globe.”

Road authorities and operators can sign-up here to be considered to join the list of supporting partners when the AV Road Rules platform expands new markets later this year.

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