Industry FAQs

The CAV Task Force is composed of members from across the state who can help connect industry stakeholders with local contacts.  Additionally, staff for the CAV Task Force is always happy to help establish connections around Texas.

Each part of Texas provides specific opportunities for AV companies.  From long stretches of interstates in West Texas to both large and small cities sharing common borders, Texas offers unique opportunities for industry to not only pilot, but to successfully build the operations for future growth.

The Texas Legislature has adopted legislation over the last few years regarding CAVs in Texas.  Please follow this link for summaries of each bill: Current Texas Laws

CAVs at a limited level of autonomy currently co-exist with human drivers. It is foreseeable that there will be challenges as humans evaluate and react to roadway situations differently than computers. As the automation levels advance toward driverless vehicles so will the CAV industry’s assurances of safety, cyber security, and environmental performance.

Many vehicle already have advanced driver assistance features such as:

• Rearview Video Systems
• Automatic Emergency Braking
• Pedestrian Automatic Emergency Braking
• Rear Automatic Emergency Braking
• Rear Cross Traffic Alert
• Lane Centering Assist
• Lane keeping assist
• Adaptive cruise control
• Traffic jam assist
• Self-park

As with any other system that is fully connected to the cyber world, CAVs face some of the same security issues. The three key elements potentially vulnerable to cyberattacks identified by Kim et al. 2021 are automotive control systems, autonomous driving system components, and V2X.

An automotive control system consists of an in-vehicle network that connects the main device and the other devices. These are classified as units and networks. The most important units are electronic control units (ECU) that manages all of the systems within the vehicle from powertrains to door locks.  

The autonomous driving system consists of the components that “read” the roadway and surrounding areas. These are technologies such as GPS, Bluetooth, LiDAR, RADAR and cameras, central computer, and ultrasonic sensors.

The V2X communication technologies communicate with all of the other technologies including Vehicle ad-hoc networks (VANETs). Attack methods and defenses are being vigorously studied by the CAV industry and IT companies.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) a comprehensive and systematic approach to developing layered cybersecurity protections for vehicles includes the following:

• A risk-based prioritized identification and protection process for safety-critical vehicle control systems;
• Timely detection and rapid response to potential vehicle cybersecurity incidents on America’s roads;
• Architectures, methods, and measures that design-in cyber resiliency and facilitate rapid recovery from incidents when they occur; and
• Methods for effective intelligence and information sharing across the industry to facilitate quick adoption of industry-wide lessons learned. NHTSA encouraged the formation of Auto-ISAC, an industry environment emphasizing cybersecurity awareness and collaboration across the automotive industry (USDOT)

Figure 3. Categories of Attack Research on Autonomous Vehicles. Source: Kim et al. 2021.

• Crash and Incident Reporting Requirements 
• Changes in ownership, changes in freedoms 
• Extreme events and mass rescue
• Resourcing and organizational alignment 
• Lessons learned and successes  
• Testing experiences & feedback from manufacturers/OEMs on infrastructure needs 
• Standardizing and Harmonizing State Regulations: Vehicle Code, Enforcement and Compliance 
• Multistate corridors 
• Cross border/jurisdictional interoperability 
• Peer network development & support, best practice synthesis, research needs & projects (supplement NCHRP & FHWA), research products/tools/guidance implementation & training 
• Advice on where the state can make investments 
• Electrification 
• Environmental aspects 
• Impacts to revenue for road systems 
• Changes in public transportation 
• Changes in traffic location, density 
• Technical Details / Operating Design Domains 
• Insurance and financial responsibility / liability 
• Examine multi-modal applications and seams 
• Changing workforce impacts and agency staffing 
• Education curriculum and public engagement 
• Law enforcement interaction