Unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), urban air mobility (UAM), and automated vehicles (AVs) have the potential to transform how people travel, how packages are delivered to consumers, and how businesses in all sectors operate.
To encourage further innovation and maintain U.S. leadership in these emerging technologies, policymakers must prioritize the below:
- Emerging Aviation Technologies: Policymakers must take a comprehensive approach to unlock the benefits of UAM and UAS. To ensure the safe integration of UAM and UAS into the national airspace, C_TEC recommends that policymakers focus on several key areas including: safely removing barriers to innovation; prioritizing the main enabling systems and infrastructure to provide for further integration; mitigating threats stemming from illicit UAS operation; and strengthening United States competitiveness in emerging aviation.
- Automated Vehicles: The safe development, testing, and deployment of automated vehicles is paramount to building public trust in automated vehicle technology and ensuring widespread deployment. C_TEC recommends that policymakers focus on removing barriers to automated vehicle innovation through regulatory and non-regulatory approaches; ensuring regulatory clarity; educating the public on automated vehicle technology; and strengthening research, development and testing.
