Consortium Works to Advance Safer Testing, Development, and Deployment of Automated Vehicles

WARRENDALE, Pa. (Feb. 09, 2023) – The Automated Vehicle Safety Consortium (AVSC), an industry program of SAE Industry Technologies Consortia, is excited to announce Uber and Waymo as the latest members to join the AVSC, strengthening the current membership with valuable insights in the development of AV safety-related best practices. The AVSC is comprised of engineering and technology company members in the automated vehicle space, bringing decades of experience of launching safe, innovative mobility technologies, and working to advance safer testing, development, and deployment of automated vehicles.

Uber has a strong history of supporting industry collaboration on safety best practices/standards and brings a unique perspective from experiences partnering with AV developers to deploy and operate AVs in a consumer-facing platform. The company also recently shared their public-facing Safety Guidelines for Autonomous Mobility and Delivery Providers Operating on the Uber platform.

“We are excited to begin 2023 by welcoming Uber into the AVSC. The insights they will provide from their current autonomous vehicle operations on the Uber platform will add new and fresh perspectives to our united mission to promote safety-focused best practices in the AV industry,” Darcyne Foldenauer, Director, Automated Vehicle Safety Consortium (AVSC).

“Safety is at the heart of everything we do,” said Noah Zych, Global Head of Autonomous Mobility and Delivery at Uber. “We look forward to collaborating with our peers in this Consortium, sharing our unique safety perspective from the five autonomous deployments currently operating on our platform and working to continually improve our safety guidelines.”

Waymo has been operating a fully autonomous ride-hailing service since 2020, including deployments in California and Arizona. Over the years, Waymo has voluntarily shared details about its safety practices as well as real-world performance data to advance the dialogue around autonomous driving safety and to encourage transparency across the industry.

“AVSC is thrilled to start 2023 by welcoming Waymo into our consortium. Their leadership in autonomous driving will immensely aid in the development of our best practices. We are excited to include their knowledge and expertise in these best practices that are available for all manufacturers and developers to build safer AV systems for the public. Waymo’s mission, “to make it safe and easy for people and things to get where they’re going” aligns perfectly with our AVSC goals,” Darcyne Foldenauer, Director, Automated Vehicle Safety Consortium (AVSC).

“Information sharing and industry collaboration around safety best practices are paramount for the future progress of autonomous driving,” said Francesca Favaro, Safety Best Practices Lead at Waymo. “We are committed to continuing to share meaningful safety data and practices, and are excited to join efforts with the AVSC and its members to advance the safe deployment of autonomous driving systems.”

Uber and Waymo join AVSC industry leader members Aurora, Ford, GM/Cruise, Honda, Lyft, Motional, Toyota, and Volkswagen. Consortium members are working on the development of a series of safety principles for SAE Level 4 and 5 automated driving systems.

For more information about the AVSC, visit avsc.sae-itc.org. SAE Industry Technologies Consortia (SAE ITC®) is an affiliate of SAE International. The SAE ITC team specializes in establishing and managing consortia by providing proven processes, tools, and resources.

ITC enables public, private, academic and government organizations to connect and collaborate in neutral, pre-competitive forums thus empowering the setting and implementation of strategic business improvements in highly engineered industries globally. (www.sae-itc.com)

About SAE International
SAE International is a global organization committed to advancing mobility knowledge and solutions for the benefit of humanity. By engaging nearly 200,000 engineers, technical experts and volunteers, we connect and educate mobility professionals to enable safe, clean, and accessible mobility solutions. We act on two priorities: encouraging a lifetime of learning for mobility engineering professionals and setting the standards for industry engineering. We strive for a better world through the work of our philanthropic SAE Foundation, including award-winning programs like A World In Motion® and the Collegiate Design Series™. More at http://www.sae.org.

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SAE Media Contact:
Jeff Laskowski
SAE International
248.925.4770
pr@sae.org