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(thoughtful music)

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(logo whooshes)

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(thoughtful music)

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- [Narrator] Autonomous vehicles

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are already a reality on Texas roadways.

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Automated freight technologies,

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such as autonomous trucks
and platoon trucks,

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promise increased safety and
significant cost savings.

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But until now, little was known

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about the effects these new technologies

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will have on transportation
infrastructure.

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The Texas Department of Transportation

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and researchers with the Texas
A&M Transportation Institute

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have developed a tool that will
help transportation planners

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predict and minimize adverse impacts

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of these new trucking technologies.

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- The technology behind
autonomous truck control

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is very precise.

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It's almost like running
the trucks on rails.

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They're so precise.

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And this means that we are
going to have some more cracking

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and more running with
everything being the same

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compared to traditional traffic.

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And what the TxDOT wanted

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was to be able to run a
number of different scenarios

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in terms of, okay, what are
the different implications

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for different parts of the infrastructure

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by introducing autonomous
and connected trucks

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on Texas Highways?

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- Basically this project was an outgrowth

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of a prior project, TxDOT Project 0-6984.

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That project was completed in 2020,

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and we looked at the impacts potentially

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that automated and
platoon trucks could have

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on the TxDOT freight infrastructure,

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primarily the roadways in the
Texas Highway Freight Network.

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This project took what we
found in that prior project

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and tried to put it into the
development of a new tool,

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a web-based tool that could
be used by planners at TxDOT

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and/or other planters so
that they could quickly look

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at a variety of scenarios

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to identify impacts of
bridges, pavements, flooding,

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or weather impacts on
different types of soils

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throughout the state.

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And then also the economic impacts

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of these new types of truck technologies.

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- By understanding the cost

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and the impact of these autonomous trucks

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on different aspects of
the TxDOT's infrastructure,

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we anticipate where to
harden the infrastructure,

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and we can actually recommend
which hardening options

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are most beneficial to
reducing any negative impact

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and maximizing positive impacts.

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So this simply gives TxDOT

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the ability now to fairly
seamlessly identify ways

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to harden infrastructure
in a cost-effective manner

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that also enables more effective
and efficient truck traffic

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and freight mobility across Texas.

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- We think implementation,
obviously, as an online tool,

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there continues to be
improvements that could be made.

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We think we've got it to
an operational standpoint.

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We need to develop and
continue to work with TxDOT

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through an implementation project

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to do some further
training and development

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to get this where it's actually in use

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throughout the department.

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- [Narrator] For more information

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and to find the publications
for this project,

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please visit the TxDOT Research Library

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at the link shown below.