Testing Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) and Automated Vehicles in the High North: Anticipated Consequences and Societal Dilemmas

• In Event: Autonomous Vehicles - I: Practices and Policies of Autonomous Driving

Abstract

Norway became mass motorized more than 50 years ago, and societal infrastructure, practices and planning have since been centered around the car. The driver has always been of critical importance, as formalized by the 1968 UN Vienna convention, which states that a human driver must always be present in a car when it is in motion. Currently, the role of human drivers and the regulations that shape driver roles are changing. In 2017 Norway became a pioneer by adapting a new law to allow for the mass-testing of automated transport systems. While expectations concerning how automated vehicles will transform transport systems are high, little evidence exists on how this will affect society, road safety or driver practices. Thus, there is a need to move beyond the existing focus on technological capability to a focus on the socio-technical aspects of the organization around automated vehicles and ITS in different locations.
This paper is based on an empirical study of a pilot program of self-driving trailers and ITS on the European road E8 between Norway and Finland which has a particularly harsh climate and difficult road conditions. The goal of the pilot is to understand the impact of ITS on the practice of professional truck drivers, as well as the consequences of digitalization of the road traffic in this area. We explore the societal aspects of innovation and highlight the need for innovators and public authorities to reflexively engage with societal dilemmas and consequences related to automated vehicles and ITS.

Authors

• Roger Andre Søraa, NTNU

• Marianne Ryghaug, Norwegian University of Science & Technology (NTNU)