Ginger Goodin, director of TTI’s Transportation Policy Research Center, is featured on a short list of “Transportation Innovators” scheduled for presentations and panel discussions at this year’s SXSW Conference. Goodin joins 14 other “ahead-of-the-curve transportation-related speakers who will be part of March Magic in Austin,” according to Hugh Forrest, chief programming officer for SXSW.
Goodin will participate in a March 11 panel discussion entitled “Self-Driving Cars and the Policy Maze,” which will be moderated by U.S. Rep. Daniel Lipinski of Illinois. The panel will also include Nathaniel Beuse of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and David Strickland of Venable LLP and a former administrator of NHTSA.
Self-driving cars hold the potential for substantial societal benefits, particularly in the area of safety. As recently reported in The New York Times, the National Safety Council noted a 6 percent increase in traffic deaths last year, topping 40,000 fatalities. The Times reports the two-year increase in fatalities of 14 percent represents the largest rise in traffic deaths in the last 50 years.
The panel will explore how related public policy must thread the needles of safety, privacy, cybersecurity, and liability. Panelists will address the policy challenges and opportunities toward full integration of this technology into our nation’s transportation system, and lay out the sticking points, areas for collaboration and the potential for progress.
First held in 1987, SXSW bills itself as “an essential destination for global professionals, and proves that the most unexpected discoveries happen when diverse topics and people come together.”
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