US establishes a federal committee on automation

Someday, self-driving vehicles could rule the roads, what with several tech titans, ride-hailing companies and automakers developing their own. To prepare for the era of autonomous vehicles, the United States' transportation department has established a federal committee on automation. The committee, comprised of industry experts, will work in the development and deployment of not just autonomous cars, but also trains, buses, planes and even drones or unmanned aerial vehicles. They'll help shape policy and regulations, determine what areas need more research and prepare for autonomous vehicles' infrastructure needs.

As you can see below, the members come from both public and private sectors, from universities, big automakers and ride-hailing services:

• Co-Chair: Mary Barra- General Motors, Chairman and CEO

• Co-Chair: Eric Garcetti- Mayor of Los Angeles, CA

• Vice Chair: Dr. J. Chris Gerdes- Stanford University, Professor of Engineering

• Gloria Boyland- FedEx, Corporate Vice President, Operations & Service Support

• Robin Chase- Zipcar; Buzzcar; Veniam, Co-founder of Zipcar and Veniam

• Douglas Chey- Hyperloop One, Senior Vice President of Systems Development

• Henry Claypool- Community Living Policy Center, Policy Director

• Mick Cornett- Mayor of Oklahoma City, OK

• Mary "Missy" Cummings- Duke University, Director, Humans and Autonomy Lab, Pratt School of Engineering

• Dean Garfield- Information Technology Industry Council, President and CEO

• Mary Gustanski- Delphi Automotive, Vice President of Engineering & Program Management

• Debbie Hersman- National Safety Council, President and CEO

• Rachel Holt- Uber, Regional General Manager, United States and Canada

• Lisa Jackson- Apple, Vice President of Environment, Policy, and Social Initiatives

• Tim Kentley-Klay- Zoox, Co-founder and CEO

• John Krafcik- Waymo, CEO

• Gerry Murphy- Amazon, Senior Corporate Counsel, Aviation

• Robert Reich- University of California, Berkeley, Chancellor's Professor of Public Policy, Richard and Rhoda Goldman School of Public Policy

• Keller Rinaudo- Zipline International, CEO

• Chris Spear- American Trucking Association (ATA), President and CEO

• Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger- Safety Reliability Methods, Inc., Founder and CEO

• Bryant Walker Smith- University of South Carolina, Assistant Professor, School of Law and (by courtesy) School of Engineering

• Jack Weekes- State Farm Insurance, Operations Vice President, Innovation Team

• Ed Wytkind- President, Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO

• John Zimmer- Lyft, Co-founder and President

US Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said the committee "will work to advance life-saving innovations while boosting our economy and making our transportation network more fair, reliable, and efficient." They'll hold their first official meeting on January 16th, 2017, so we'll know soon enough if they decide on anything big from the get-go.