With the onslaught of warehouses being proposed in the Lehigh Valley and beyond, Pennsylvania is looking like a mecca of giant distribution centers.  Along with these concrete monstrosities comes the invasion of thousands of tractor-trailers on our roads (many of which are rural) in order to get to Rt 78.   As residents grapple with the loss of precious farmland and the possible devaluation of their homes, they are also wondering how our infrastructure will handle the added tractor-trailer congestion.  Many fear for their safety when traveling alongside these huge rigs.  We can’t help but wonder, does Pennsylvania have a plan?
 
On Wednesday, February 1, 2018, Penndot and the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development held a free webinar “Connected and Autonomous Vehicles in PA and their potential for our economy.”  Could this new technology be the answer to our concerns?
 https://youtu.be/1lUkyCYdAEY  (Penndot What are automated vehicles)
 
Pennsylvania and Penndot are leaders in Autonomous Vehicles.  Here’s how it works.  Several systems work together to control Autonomous Vehicles (AV). They rely entirely on its own on-board radar sensors, video cameras, light detection & ranging sensors, in wheel ultra sonic sensors and a central computer that analyzes all of the data.
 
Connected Automatic Vehicles (CAV) have capabilities that allow it to communicate to other equipped vehicles in their immediate vicinity, Vehicle to Vehicle (V to V).  It is also aware of the surrounding infrastructure, Vehicle to Infrastructure (V to I) such as intersections and curves, and the use of the cloud.  The advantages of automatic technology are improved safety, mobility, land use and societal benefits.
 
How will this technology help the community survive the influx of tractor-trailers that will be traveling on our roads?  The trucking industry will be revolutionized in the next two decades.
https://youtu.be/L_uW0_OvEkk  (The future of trucking)  Investors are spending 100s of millions of dollars on start-up companies competing to develop a software program to be used by every segment of the trucking industry for advanced efficiency.
 
Today, medium and heavy-duty trucks account for 6% of all greenhouse gas emissions.  Companies like Walmart are looking to fleets to be powered by cleaner natural gas to transition into renewables.  Look for Tesla to introduce an electric powered semi truck.  While cutting emissions would be great for the environment, the real cost savings will be in the elimination of the driver.  Introducing a system called Platooning.  Platooning, is a semi autonomous feature that allows trucks to find and link up with each other and draft.  Cutting down on wind drag, saves energy as in cycling or race car driving.  Look for a fleet of autonomous trucks to be available in the next 10 years.
 
While it may take some time to have fully driverless trucks, Morgan Stanley estimates that by making the American freight industry autonomous, the potential savings is $168 billion annually in fuel, productivity and accident costs.
 
With the potential of millions of jobs to be lost, will residents embrace a future of employment in an age of automation in the distribution and freight industries? 
 
In December of 2017, Lehigh Valley Planning Commission reported 45 of the most congested roads in the Lehigh Valley by 2040.  Many residents that commute on these roads contend they are already congested.  It will take years to update our infrastructure and phase in the technology for Autonomous Vehicles.  We need local municipalities to approve smart, responsible development that grows in line with the infrastructure to support it.  Then and only then will the future be bright in the Lehigh Valley and beyond.