The impending deployment of automated vehicles (AVs) represents a major shift
in the traditional approach to ground transportation; its effects will
inevitably be felt by parties directly involved with vehicle manufacturing
and use (e.g., automotive original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), public
transportation systems, heavy goods transportation providers) and those that
play roles in the mobility ecosystem (e.g., aftermarket and maintenance
industries, infrastructure and planning organizations, automotive insurance
providers, marketers, telecommunication companies).
The focus of this chapter is to address a topic overlooked by many who choose
to view automated driving systems and AVs from a “10,000-foot perspective:”
the topic of how AVs will communicate with other road users such as
conventional (human-driven) vehicles, bicyclists, and pedestrians while in
operation. This unsettled issue requires assessing the spectrum of existing
modes of communication—both implicit and explicit, both biological and
technological—employed by road users today.