In the last 5 to 10 years, the technology has progressed in a way where we now see a lot of organisations getting started with the testing of different use cases for autonomous vehicles. In the end, it’s a big computer with wheels; and just think about how fast computers or smartphones have progressed in the past 10 years. A lot of financial promise and increased service quality are being promised.
Testing today already helps transport planners to shape their plans and budget for the next decade.
These pilot projects are about training your organisation and making long-term plans based on actual experiences. The reason you should test is to actually explore and identify areas and use cases where autonomous vehicles already make sense today. Finally, it is a way to raise awareness among the local population and explore social acceptance of the technology ; it is always interesting to read results from surveys, but also the comments received on social media ; where we see a wide variety of reactions.