Introduction of the Place Act

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. BLUMENAUER. Madam Speaker, today I introduced the Preparing Localities for an Autonomous and Connected Environment (PLACE) Act. This legislation passed the House last session as Section 5303 of the Moving Forward Act (H.R. 2, 116th Cong.) and creates a federally funded highly automated vehicle clearinghouse to study the secondary impacts of autonomous vehicles and mobility innovation.

The transportation sector is changing at a faster pace than ever before. New mobility options like Uber and Lyft, bikeshare, and scooters have already disrupted how Americans get around. The private sector has invested more than $16 billion toward bringing semi- or fully-autonomous vehicles to market, and research publications on self- driving technology have quadrupled over the past three years. Many predict autonomous vehicles will become widely available within just a few years.

Done right, autonomous vehicles can solve some of the country's most vexing transportation problems while improving mobility for all. Done wrong, autonomous vehicles can exacerbate transportation's negative externalities, leaving communities struggling to make sense of an everchanging landscape. The PLACE Act will ensure that autonomous vehicles improve the livability of communities, allowing policymakers to understand their influence on land use, urban design, transportation, real estate, accessibility, municipal budgets, social equity, availability and quality of jobs, air quality and climate, energy consumption, and the environment. I look forward to working with my colleagues on this issue as part of a long-term surface transportation reauthorization package.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source