Reducing hazard to roadway workers and achieving a safer working environment for both CDOT employees and the public remains a key and critical strategic priority for CDOT. The advent of new technologies in the form of autonomous and connected vehicles presents a path for using technical advances to potentially reduce or eliminate threat to employees and maintaining public safety, with initial demonstration conducted with CDOT’s Autonomous Truck Mounted Attenuator/Impact Protection Vehicle. CDOT believes that this technology presents considerable potential to remove workers from risk, and the expansion of this technology both inside and outside of Colorado would be of benefit and therefore interest of the department. CDOT’s trial implementation and testing program for the ATMA/AIPV has generated interest and questions from other DOTs, motivating the need to develop a cooperative arrangement and agreement to spread and further research autonomy in maintenance applications. This effort aims to address these challenges by forming a coalition of transportation related groups with interest in autonomous maintenance technology research, and create a pooled fund to provide a single source of funding for unified research efforts that will benefit all contributing parties. This will allow for larger and more significant research projects to be undertaken and will lead to an overall cost savings by consolidating many different DOTs’ research efforts in the same field.

The mission of this study is to support and promote collaborative research efforts in the field of autonomous technologies in work zone applications, with the goal of improving the safety, efficiency and quality of work efforts, along with providing better solutions and valuable lessons learned for the integration of new technologies to further these goals. The participation of many transportation related agencies in this study furthers the cooperation in this industry, leading to improved future development of beneficial technologies and improved sharing of information and lessons learned. This is intended to further safety, efficiency, and quality of work done in this field for all relevant agencies.

The group will fund research and development efforts to achieve the program goals, with initial proposed research focusing on: • Improvements on existing ATMA/AIPV platforms (Autonomous Truck Mounted Attenuator/Impact Protection Vehicle) - Expansion of use of ATMA/AIPV platforms beyond striping - Refining policy and operational procedures for autonomous work vehicles - Additional implementation possibilities for autonomous vehicles in maintenance operations - Other New Technology

- We are proposing initial $25,000 per year for three years ($75,000 total per agency) to be a voting TAC member. - We are amiable to a $5k to be a "pooled fund friend" but with no voting rights. Your agency representative will be invited to join in annual meetings in person and in the monthly or quarterly conference calls. Details still to be determined once FHWA approves this pooled fund and voting TAC members work out the details. - Our goal for funding will be initially $200,000 total from all members but as this pooled fund gains momentum we will expand on the scope of work and have several research projects.