Building a Framework for Problem-Solving

Once you’ve understood the local legal and political context, designated a point person, and organized the working group, it’s time to focus on sharing information, identifying concerns, and collaborating on solutions to operational challenges. The working group can discuss and be tasked with:

• Creating a plan for robotaxi operations
• Collaborating with a broad group of external stakeholders
• Developing a data management plan to collect and monitor performance
• Demonstrating the cost impacts associated with robotaxi operations
• Anticipating operational challenges 

Creating a plan for robotaxi operations

Formally or informally, the working group should identify guiding principles, goals, or develop a strategic plan for working with robotaxi companies. These documents can help bring people up to speed and support decision-making. Build on existing policies to determine how robotaxi operations fit into the city’s goals, not the other way around. A basic plan for robotaxis should explore the following elements:

• Develop goals, priorities, and guiding principles: A formal city document, such as “Robotaxi Principles” or a “Robotaxi Strategic Plan,” can present your city’s perspective on robotaxi testing and deployment, including how it could help or harm city transportation, equity, and sustainability goals. The document can serve as a source of information for robotaxi companies seeking to test or deploy in your city and could include a list of items they should address before beginning operations. During development, consider whether it would be helpful to include robotaxi testing and operations in these documents as well. 
• Prioritize equitable, accessible service: Many cities want to ensure that robotaxis provide citywide service and equal access throughout the city. Further, cities will want to understand how robotaxis services will accommodate people with disabilities, including those who use wheelchairs and other assistive devices. Consider what equal access would mean for your city and what strategies would incentivize or require robotaxis to align with your city’s goals and policies for advancing equity.
• Align on messaging: A centralized communications and media strategy across city departments will help the city speak with one voice on robotaxi issues. Some cities have found it helpful to allow each department to speak to the media on its own behalf rather than on behalf of the city as a whole; this is particularly important for police and fire departments. However, common talking points should be used.
• Bring everyone up to speed: Create baseline education materials for city staff about robotaxi operations in our city. Include information about the local regulatory environment at the state and local level, an overview of automated vehicle technology and common operational models for robotaxis in your city, a comparison to peer cities, and typical challenges to expect with robotaxi testing and operations. 
• Review local land use regulations: Cities retain authority over local land use policy. As many robotaxi companies operate electric vehicles, they will need to develop charging sites to recharge and maintain their fleets. Cities can use their land use authority and approval of these robotaxi commercial fleet locations to leverage access to data to monitor performance.

Collaborate with a broader group of stakeholders 

As robotaxi testing and operations expand, your city will need a framework for when and how to collaborate with a broader range of stakeholders. The working group can develop this shared approach. Depending on local priorities, some of those stakeholders include:

External Transportation Experts

• Transit agency staff: Robotaxi operations will impact transit operations. Anticipate responses to typical concerns, such as idling at bus stops or blocking streetcar or light rail operations. Include staff from the transit agency who can identify and document disruptive behaviors and collaborate on developing supportive policies. 
• State and provincial transportation policy staff: Contact state policy staff working on autonomous vehicles and robotaxis early and often to provide your city’s perspective. Robotaxi operations are evolving quickly, and your voice can be a powerful tool for advocating for better policy at the state and federal levels. 

Community Partners

• Labor organizers and workforce development advocates: Robotaxi adoption could affect the local workforce, especially people currently driving for ride-hail and other for-hire car services. Work with organizers and advocates to understand the potential impacts and collaborate on strategies to mitigate impacts.
• School district representatives: Relationships with local school districts are valuable, as school buses and school zone pick-ups and drop-offs can be difficult for robotaxis to navigate. School zones are complex environments to navigate during pick-up and drop-off. Autonomous vehicles do not always correctly interpret school bus stop arms and school zone speed limits. Working directly with schools and districts can help identify challenges and solutions.
• Colleges and universities: Undergraduate and graduate students represent a large potential market for robotaxi services, including on both public and private streets. Partnerships with higher education institutions can help identify potential needs for educating users and for ensuring that robotaxis correctly interpret vehicle prohibitions. Young adults may also be more likely to intentionally disrupt robotaxi operations, potentially leading to congestion and safety concerns for people inside and outside the robotaxis. 
• Community leaders and stakeholders: Consider who else may have a vested interest in robotaxi operations, such as business improvement districts, advocacy organizations, neighborhood councils. Contextualize your priorities with those of other community stakeholders. Consider how their perspectives can inform city policy and communications with robotaxi operators.

Develop a data management plan to monitor performance

Under current national, state, or provincial laws and regulations, cities may be limited on the types of data that they receive from robotaxi companies. Cities should still request the data they need and use the data they have to evaluate robotaxi performance. This includes creating a process for collecting and aggregating information.

Clarify your city’s data needs

Ask robotaxi companies to share data, specify which data points your city wants, the level of detail the city requires, how often the city would like to collect it, and how it will be used. At a minimum, cities should ask robotaxi companies for the following data:

• The robotaxi service area map
• The number of robotaxis operating on city streets
• The miles driven with passengers and without passengers
• Robotaxi incident information
• Origin and destination trip information 

Data sharing should be required as part of a city’s permitting program, but without a formal requirement, robotaxi companies are unlikely to provide the data outlined above.

Using digital infrastructure tools

Cities should consider using the Open Mobility Foundation’s Mobility Data Specification (MDS) or Curb Data Specification (CDS), which standardize data reporting without including personally identifiable information. Both MDS and CDS are application programming interfaces (APIs) that facilitate the exchange of anonymized vehicle data between private mobility operators, including robotaxis, and cities. 

MDS and CDS also provide a digital mechanism for cities to communicate rules and regulations to mobility operators. MDS includes information on vehicle status, location, and trip routes. CDS data includes digital curb locations and regulations, real-time and historic commercial events, and curb usage session details to determine occupancy, usage, and other aggregated statistics. 

This digital infrastructure can help communicate automatically generated stay-away zones around emergency response and develop a work zone data exchange feed. Using a standardized framework provides predictability and certainty to both the public and private sectors, reducing uncertainty for robotaxi companies entering new markets.

Accessing information in the absence of data reporting

Some cities cannot enter into formal agreements or permitting programs with robotaxi companies to require data sharing because of state preemption. Cities will need to create a process for gathering and aggregating robotaxi information if companies don’t share data directly. Existing communication channels, such as 311, service request hotlines, and city council member offices, enable city staff to gather insights into robotaxi operations on city streets and help local policymakers make decisions with limited information.

• Through your working group or task force, establish protocols for distributing and summarizing incoming calls or emails, including who should receive them, to ensure all relevant city staff receive the information.
• Work with 311 and other stakeholders to collect quantitative and qualitative data on a regular basis.
• Consider collecting or reviewing existing video footage to calculate robotaxis volumes and observe general operations. 
• Work with law enforcement to document violations. Cities will need to ensure that local crash reporting forms include a checkbox for robotaxis.
• Create a process for documenting violations, such as entering a construction zone or another road, blocking bike lanes, or other instances that disrupt traffic operations. 

Demonstrating the cost impacts associated with robotaxi operations

Robotaxis are another mobility service that cities must manage with limited staffing and resources. Like other recently-emerged technologies, such as ride-hail services and e-scooters, cities need to create a fee structure that covers the cost of managing robotaxis on city streets and for utilizing curb space.

A fee study should estimate the resources required to manage operations and address challenges. Include the time it takes to train first responders as well as the time first responders spend responding to incidents and challenges. This is a common practice already used for other passenger services and curb management. Cities should establish a mechanism to cover city costs.

Anticipating operational challenges

Expect to see similar scenarios in testing and deployment as other cities have when robotaxi operations are introduced or expanded. Inevitably, robotaxis will block first responders and public transit operations, and city or transit teams will have difficulty removing or towing disengaged vehicles. City planners will face difficulty siting and approving large fleet charging facilities. Other common problems that your working group should seek to address include:

• Removing stopped vehicles—with and without steering wheels—from spaces where vehicles are not allowed (e.g., construction sites, open streets events) 
• Protocols for overriding unresponsive or stopped robotaxis
• Ticketing vehicles parked or idling illegally
• Issuing moving violations

Consider proactively coordinating with robotaxi companies on large event pick up / drop off logistics, major street closures (planned and unplanned), nightlife pick up/drop off, and time-based speed limits, such as in school zones. 

Although city departments must maintain safe roadway operations, especially in emergency situations, the responsibility for safe operations is held by the robotaxi companies. Every city has a long maintenance backlog, aging infrastructure, high demand for curb space, expanding multimodal infrastructure, and frequently deployed temporary traffic plans for construction and special events. Robotaxi companies must navigate these streets as they exist today. The onus is not on cities to update or rebuild infrastructure to support autonomous operations.