Big News: Non-Profit to Certify Driverless Buses and Trucks

A credible name in the driverless field has popped up with a new non-profit to capitalize on and contribute to the driverless field. Alain Kornhauser, who has written on and mused about autonomous vehicle technology for many years, is leading the effort. Kornhauser is the director of Princeton University's Autonomous Vehicle Engineering Program. 

The new non-profit, the Center for Automated Road Transportation Safety, will be doing research, development, and certification of driverless trucks and buses. I'm not sure if that combination has a built -in conflict of interest, particularly because a major goal of the center will be to promote the commercialization of such vehicles. Will the center be sufficiently neutral to be trusted as a source for certification? 

The non-profit is a New Jersey enterprise, with local transportation players participating. New Jersey Transit, however, is not represented.

Even so, with Kornhauser at the helm, and with this early start on a potentially key piece of the dirverless puzzle that no one else has claimed, there is a good chance that this new center will be able to be the safety maven - and chief comforter of the public - for this emerging field.