Risk assessment framework for automated vehicle trials

Overview Austroads Ltd is seeking responses from appropriately experienced service providers to develop a nationally harmonised, risk-based framework and practical tools to support state and territory road agencies in making consistent, defensible decisions on automated vehicle trials. Purpose This project will develop internal operational guidance for road agencies that supports structured risk assessment and decision-making for the approval of applications for automated vehicle (AV) trials. For the purposes of this project, "road agencies" refers to state and territory road authorities responsible for the assessment of automated vehicle trial applications under existing state and territory arrangements. The term does not include non-road regulators or the proposed national in-service regulator (ISR), to be established under a future Automated Vehicle Safety Law. Scope The project will create a research-based, nationally harmonised framework that: Provides a structured set of assessment considerations, possible reference points or benchmarks, and key documentation or evidence required from trial proponents, to support agency decision-making when reviewing risk assessments, aligned with existing national guidance and safe system principles, along with relevant state and territory trial guidelines Aligns with international best practice and emerging regulation for commercial automated vehicle deployment Provides tools and templates (such as checklists and risk assessment templates) to support transport agencies to apply the guidance consistently Includes guidance materials to support capability uplift for agency staff, where needed This project aims to align assessment approach, process and logic, not outcomes. It does not harmonise jurisdictional requirements placed on proponents or constrain jurisdiction-specific risk tolerances. Design Principles The framework and tools are to be designed with the following principles: Applicable across a range of trial types, including different scale, complexity, proponent maturity/capability, vehicle types and applications/use cases Usable by agencies with varying capability and resources Governance-agnostic, supporting different decision-making structures/legislative frameworks for trials Supports both technical assessment and executive decision-making, including approving trials, moving trials between phases, and managing issues that arise over the course of trials Focused on transparency and auditability of decisions by establishing a consistent, repeatable and evidence-based assessment framework Deliverables The project will produce the following deliverables: An internal report outlining current practice in assessing AV trial safety cases in Australia and New Zealand, including key concerns and issues identified by agencies An internal report outlining emerging best practice in the assessment, verification and validation of AV trial safety cases/safety management plans A risk-based assessment framework ensuring key areas are considered, key risk categories and key risks are addressed, and decision workflows and processes are in place Recommended updates to the NTC/Austroads Automated Vehicle Trial Guidelines Practical tool(s), template(s) and decision-support aid(s), such as document and process checklists, decision-making workflows and assessment logic, risk framing approaches, indicative risk registers or standard forms for proponents, to support the approval and ongoing management of AV trials, which could include guidance on data and reporting requirements throughout the course of a trial, aligned with emerging international standards and the proposed Automated Vehicle Safety Law A simplified version of key tools/templates for jurisdictions to share with industry to set expectations with trial proponents, which may include optional template structures for use by applicants to support more consistent and complete submissions, while remaining flexible to jurisdiction-specific requirements Supporting material, likely in the form of guidance notes to accompany the tool/template(s), to assist agency staff in reviewing and validating proponent risk claims Project data with a populated metadata spreadsheet A webinar to Austroads members to present the outcomes of the project