Phoenix running a new autonomous vehicle ride-hailing passenger program with hundreds of Waymo’s self-driving Chrysler Pacifica minivans
By Marco della Cava | USA TODAY
USA TODAY Network survey of nearly a dozen states hoping to lead the way in autonomous vehicles reveals varying degrees of readiness across the nation Self-driving vehicles are synonymous with sophisticated sensors producing terabytes of data being analyzed by powerful computers. But it seems the success of this transportation revolution hinges on a decidedly low-tech material: Paint.
That’s because when it comes to getting the nation’s infrastructure ready for autonomous traffic, the most critical upgrade amounts to making sure the lines on our 4 million miles of roads are solid, bright and preferably white so they can be picked up by computer vision gear.
“The (self-driving car companies) actually said make sure you have really good paint lines,” says Kirk Steudle, director of Michigan’s Department of Transportation. “So, where there are lines, we have to make sure they’re really good.”
