March 2025 

Autonomous Technology is Here… and On the Horizon 

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Autonomous vehicles have been all over the news recently, raising questions and curiosity among drivers and parking professionals alike. Even though the progress of self-driving cars is exciting and newsworthy, no one can say the exact year (or even decade) when the fully autonomous (Level 5) vehicle will be ready for the road. Innovators promise that one day, the driver will enter the destination into the GPS and buckle up to relax while the car completes the route to your planned destination without any human assistance. These vehicles do not exist today - yet. 

Here's a quick summary of the Six Levels of Autonomous Driving, according to The Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) --  

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• Level 0: No driving automation - the driver is fully responsible for driving but the vehicle has alerting features like blind spot and lane departure warnings. 

• Level 1: Driver assistance – the driver is supported with braking and steering with features like adaptive cruise control or lane-centering features, which can work separately. 

• Level 2: Partial driving automation – the vehicle can provide both braking and steering support with features like adaptive cruise control, hands-free steering, and hands-on lane-center steering. 

• Level 3: Conditional driving automation - the driver can focus on other tasks and take eyes off the road until alerted; the car can handle safety-critical functions in situations where all the required conditions are met, but the driver must take over at the request of the vehicle. 

• Level 4: High driving automation - the car can handle all driving situations if its required conditions are met and may not have a steering wheel or pedals; these vehicles are monitored by a remote center that can take control of driving when necessary. 

• Level 5: Full driving automation - the car can drive without human intervention in all conditions. 

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Updates on Levels 4 and 5 

Level-4 autonomous vehicles are driving around Las Vegas, San Francisco, and Los Angeles, and Tesla is adding several soon to Austin. The Level 4 vehicles in selected cities are clocking hours and miles of customer service to accelerate the implementation of a Level 5 option and buy time while the Level 5 is created. The technological improvements necessary to move from level 4 to level 5 are still beyond measure.  The challenge is much more than just the technology to achieve level 5; it is also about the ability to move the cost of ownership down to a reasonable dollar amount.   

The continued improvement in AI will move the achievement of level 5 forward, but where is the magic point that achieves full autonomy at a price that the average person can afford? The other magic question is: when will the government and insurance companies sign off on a 4-thousand-pound vehicle zipping down the highway at 25 to 75 miles per hour with passengers occupied by YouTube?  

Driver Attention Technology  

AI technology does more for the car owner than just automating driving procedures. Over the last 10 years, I have watched with interest and fascination the amount of floor space occupied at the CES convention by companies developing technologies to measure driver attention and drowsiness. Infrared cameras in the driver’s seat measure head movements and blinking patterns and cue audio and visual alerts (like the music volume, lighting, and dashboard communications) to remind the driver to stay alert and focused. While fully automated vehicles will still be a dream for a while, AI features that improve the quality of the driving experience and decrease accident rates are already here.  

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Those of us in the parking management and transportation-related positions must plan to fulfill our responsibilities even as the future brings continuous change.  Let's enjoy the anticipation and listen in wonder as we hear about an exciting future of dozing in the front seat while the vehicle completes the daily 25-mile commute. However, we do not yet need to purchase the level 5 alarm clock that will wake us when our Autonomous vehicle arrives at our destination.  At TPN, we are, like you, eager for these exciting advancements to be created, but we choose to focus on producing the best service for today's customers, who are still driving themselves to work.   

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