“Autonomous vehicles have the incredible promise to deliver safer streets and a more reliable, equitable and sustainable transportation system, but that will only occur with the right technology and right policies in place,” Walsh said in a statement. “For that reason, Boston is ready to lead the charge on self-driving vehicles, supporting the development of the technology and policies that ensure this innovation will benefit all of our residents.”
Walsh’s order directs the Transportation Department to create guidelines for testing in Boston.
Boston recently announced a partnership with the World Economic Forum to test and deploy self-driving cars, and said at the time they could be on Boston streets before the end of the year.
A number of self-driving car companies - along with researchers at MIT and other universities - are based locally, but have been unable to do extensive testing so far. Many MIT researchers go to Singapore to test, including NuTonomy, based in Cambridge and founded out of MIT.
Earlier this year, state officials held a forum with more than a 100 self-driving car experts, and said it would look at what the administration can do to promote safe testing and use of autonomous vehicles.
The state order requires companies to get approval from the Department of Transportation to conduct testing, and creates a working group to develop rules and guidelines.
“The Commonwealth is home to many world-class innovation companies and academic institutions intimately involved in autonomous vehicle technology, which makes Massachusetts uniquely qualified to responsibly host this emerging field to foster innovation and economic growth,” Baker said in a statement.
©2016 the Boston Herald Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
