Minnesota Crafts Privacy Principles for Emerging Transit Tech
Minnesota’s Connected and Automated Vehicle Alliance is developing a privacy and security framework to help guide current and future smart transportation infrastructure and vehicle projects. by Jule Pattison-Gordon / April 13, 2021
State transportation departments face a challenge when considering connected and automated vehicles and infrastructure. On the one hand, these transit initiatives carry the promise of making services more efficient, effective and safe for all residents. On the other hand, poorly managed projects might collect troves of sensitive resident data, share it inappropriately with police and other departments and fail to keep any of it secure against hackers, leaving residents feeling spied on and at risk.
transportation-disadvantaged communities. Photo: Pjotr-Mahhonin via Wikimedia
As momentum for connected and automated vehicles (CAVs) continues to build in Minnesota, researchers in the U’s Transportation Policy and Economic Competitiveness (TPEC) program are working to understand how CAV technology could serve transportation-disadvantaged communities. CAVs offer the potential to provide greater mobility and equity for many people, but public engagement is essential to ensure all user needs are understood and addressed.
Previous TPEC efforts gathered input from local officials, stakeholders, and community members in Grand Rapids, St. Cloud, Mankato, and Fergus Falls. Building on this work, recent activities sought to uncover the needs of transportation-disadvantaged communities in the Twin Cities east metro area and determine whether CAVs could be an appropriate solution.