[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 12 (Thursday, January 21, 2021)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E51]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     INTRODUCTION OF THE PLACE ACT

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                          HON. EARL BLUMENAUER

                               of oregon

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, January 21, 2021

  Mr. BLUMENAUER. Madam Speaker, today I introduced the Preparing 
Localities for an Autonomous and Connected Environment (PLACE) Act. 
This legislation passed the House last session as Section 5303 of the 
Moving Forward Act (H.R. 2, 116th Cong.) and creates a federally funded 
highly automated vehicle clearinghouse to study the secondary impacts 
of autonomous vehicles and mobility innovation.
  The transportation sector is changing at a faster pace than ever 
before. New mobility options like Uber and Lyft, bikeshare, and 
scooters have already disrupted how Americans get around. The private 
sector has invested more than $16 billion toward bringing semi- or 
fully-autonomous vehicles to market, and research publications on self-
driving technology have quadrupled over the past three years. Many 
predict autonomous vehicles will become widely available within just a 
few years.
  Done right, autonomous vehicles can solve some of the country's most 
vexing transportation problems while improving mobility for all. Done 
wrong, autonomous vehicles can exacerbate transportation's negative 
externalities, leaving communities struggling to make sense of an 
everchanging landscape. The PLACE Act will ensure that autonomous 
vehicles improve the livability of communities, allowing policymakers 
to understand their influence on land use, urban design, 
transportation, real estate, accessibility, municipal budgets, social 
equity, availability and quality of jobs, air quality and climate, 
energy consumption, and the environment. I look forward to working with 
my colleagues on this issue as part of a long-term surface 
transportation reauthorization package.

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