Expanding public transit: it has become the topic of the decade in metro Atlanta, where a population influx has outpaced the city’s rail and bus services and left residents crying out for more options.
Some municipalities have passed referendums and SPLOSTS that promise to expand rail, while others have been reluctant, pointing to its monumental cost and time to build out as reasons to search for alternatives. One of those is autonomous vehicles, an idea that would have sounded outlandish 10 years ago, seems distant now, but is much closer to reality than you think.
In 2017 Georgia passed legislation allowing the operation of autonomous cars and trucks as long as they are fully insured and registered with the Department of Motor Vehicles. Earlier this year Doraville’s Assembly Yards mixed-use development tabbed autonomous vehicle operator NAVYA to launch a first of its kind shuttle that runs between the complex and the nearby Doraville MARTA station. Other municipalities, such as the DeKalb Corridor along Peachtree Road, are looking into autonomous shuttles of their own.
Dentons’ Eric Tanenblatt has been at the forefront of the burgeoning autonomous vehicle movement, and says the future is nearly here. 37 states already have legislation on the books allowing self driving cars and trucks. The issue naturally raises questions surrounding insurance and liability, as well as regulatory and privacy issues. Dentons, under Tanenblatt, has taken the lead in navigating the complex legal and regulatory paths that lie ahead, as auto-makers, tech giants, and state and federal governments come together to push transit into the 2020’s and beyond.
Read more about the legal landscape surrounding autonomous vehicles in Dentons’ August report HERE, with updates including a global report to come this fall.
