CHAPTER 2

Information Gathering

One of the project objectives was to identify which automated technologies have been implemented by IOOs. An initial list of automated technologies was provided in the needs statement developed for National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Project 20-102(35): “C/AV Applications for Infrastructure Owner-Operator Fleets,” which was added as a task to NCHRP Project 14-42: “Determining the Impact of Connected and Automated Vehicle Technology on State DOT Maintenance Programs” (the project that funded this research). This included the following 12 applications:

• Automated equipment, parts, or tool delivery for construction and work zones;
• Automated aerial or wheeled drones for incident surveillance or fast-response services;
• Automated street cleaning;
• Automated garbage collection;
• Automated meter reading;
• Automated pavement data collection and pavement repair;
• Automation-assisted snowplows;
• Automated bike-share rebalancing;
• Automated tree trimming;
• Automated firefighting;
• Search and rescue; and
• Autonomous transit.

Nine other relevant applications were also identified, including the following:

• UAVs for enforcement,
• UAVs for emergency condition assessment,
• UAVs for construction inspection,
• UAVs for bridge inspection,
• UAVs for emergency response,
• UAVs for traffic incident detection,
• UAVs for traffic monitoring,
• Automated work zone crash abatement, and
• Automated mowers.

Automated applications for the purpose of this report are defined in Section 1.1.

2.1 Literature Review

The first method to gather information was a comprehensive literature review. This included a search of the Transportation Research International Documentation (TRID) database, a search of engineering databases, gathering of relevant papers presented at conferences, and a review

of current and completed NCHRP projects. The literature review also included an appraisal of press releases, company websites, and other sources of information on commercially available technologies.

A short white paper was developed for each topic. Next, the team assessed the initial material available for each topic and then narrowed the potential topics to 16. The first criteria for removing an application from further consideration were whether there was at least one example of pilot testing and whether sufficient information was available to understand the technology. Next, several applications were removed because they are not typically under the purview of a state or local transportation agency. This resulted in 12 viable applications for further consideration.

Initially, a literature review was conducted to summarize the use of UAVs for construction activities, and this application was included in the survey of state and local agencies described in Chapter 3. However, while this project was in progress, NCHRP Synthesis 578: Use of Unmanned Aerial Systems for Highway Construction (Turkan et al. 2022) was published. Because that document provides a comprehensive summary of this application, this topic was not pursued further, and the interested reader is referred to that document.

2.2 Description of Survey

The next information-gathering task was to survey state and local agencies on their use of automated technologies. Survey questions were developed by the team and coded into Qualtrics so the survey could be accessed online. The survey was circulated to various national committees that were likely to include state, county, or local agency members who had implemented automated technologies.

The survey was sent in early March 2023, with several reminders sent to encourage responses. A total of 56 usable survey responses were obtained. In some cases, respondents answered one or two questions but not others. These responses were retained, and the metrics for each question were based on the total number of responses obtained for that question. Twenty-nine state DOTs and two cities participated in the survey. In several cases, more than one participant within an agency responded. Survey responses were combined for each agency, resulting in one response per agency. In a few cases, the affiliation of a respondent was difficult to determine.

Respondents were also asked if the team could follow up for more information. Additional information on the survey is provided in Chapter 3.

2.3 Agency Interviews

The next step was to prioritize applications for which additional information would be gathered through interviews. The team met with the panel for NCHRP Project 14-42 and ranked applications. The following applications were selected in order of priority:

• UAVs for emergency response/traffic incident response,
• UAVs for bridge inspection,
• Crash abatement in work zones,
• UAVs for traffic monitoring,
• UAVs for emergency condition assessment,
• Automated buses/shuttles,
• Automated mowing/vegetation control, and
• UAVs for construction inspection.

The top five applications were selected for further information gathering, and a list of stakeholders was selected for each. Interviewees were identified in one of two ways. First, agencies that had piloted the application were identified in the literature. When possible, the corresponding individual at the agency was identified. Second, survey respondents who indicated that they were willing to be contacted for further information were included.

A list of relevant questions was developed for each topic. The questions and an explanation of the project were sent to appropriate personnel at the identified agencies. The contacted individuals were asked to forward the questions if someone else at their agency was better equipped to answer. Several follow-up email reminders were sent. In many cases, more than one email was sent to individuals at a particular agency. If no responses were received from an agency, an individual from that agency was contacted by phone. The team then set up a time and conducted a virtual interview.

The team additionally conducted conversations with technology vendors at various conferences, including Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) International Conference on Intelligent Transportation Systems (Bilboa, Spain, September 2023), Association for Uncrewed Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) Exponential (Orlando, Florida, 2022), and the Florida Automated Vehicle Summit (Amelia Island, Florida, 2022).