State legislators in Harrisburg have further advanced a bill that would permit autonomous vehicle companies operating in Pennsylvania the ability to conduct testing of their self-driving machines on public roads without the presence of a human safety operator.
After passing a Pennsylvania Senate Transportation Committee vote on Tuesday, House Bill 2398 is now heading to the Senate floor for a series of considerations in coming days or weeks before a final vote. The bill, if adopted, will change the state's Title 75 Motor Vehicle Code to no longer require a licensed human driver to be inside a highly automated vehicle when that vehicle is undergoing testing.
In April, Wolf said he would sign the bill if it ended up on his desk. The House has already approved the bill following a vote last June, but it will have to vote on it again following any amendments by the Senate.
Pittsburgh has served as the founding home for several AV companies over the past few years including Aurora Innovation Inc. and Argo AI LLC, both based in the Strip District, as well as Locomation Inc., which has its headquarters in Lawrenceville. The region's AV industry employs nearly 7,000 workers across these companies and others that have operations in the Pittsburgh area.
Upon Wolf's signature, Pennsylvania would join dozens of states and D.C. where a human operator is not required to be at the controls of an AV, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Autonomous vehicle and public officials have argued the prohibition of this type of testing is cutting into Pennsylvania's edge as it relates to AV testing. Meanwhile, opponents of the bill have argued there aren't enough protections for unions and workers, like truck drivers, that the implementation of this technology is set to impact the most.
