1. Introduction

Driver and pedestrian fatalities entered a secular decline in the early 1970s, and this trend continued for nearly 40 years. But around 2010 this trend began to reverse. For example, pedestrian deaths bottomed out in 2009 at just over 4,100, but then climbed steadily until peaking at around 7,600 in 2022. In 2025, pedestrian fatalities remained well above their historical lows (6,700). Most of the increase in pedestrian deaths has been due to crashes at night. While no single cause explains the upward trend in crash-related fatalities, many factors are thought to contribute, including phones usage and in-cabin screens creating distractions, speeding, inadequate pedestrian infrastructure, weather hazards, and growing vehicle sizes.

Connected and automated vehicles (CAVs for short), by automating some or all of the dynamic driving task and sharpening driver awareness of the roadway environment and its potential hazards, help motorists become safer, more attentive drivers. Beyond delivering safe mobility for all transportation system users, CAVs improve travel time reliability, reduce congestion, and lower air pollution.

In 2022 KYTC published its Strategy for Connected and Automated Vehicles. This document sketched out how the agency could help public and private sector stakeholders leverage CAVs to improve transportation safety and efficiency. Since the Cabinet issued this document, the CAV landscape has evolved considerably and the agency has pursued several projects to build its capabilities in emerging vehicle technologies. These projects have helped staff better understand how CAVs will impact the long-term planning, development, and maintenance of Kentucky’s roads and bridges.

In 2023 KYTC wrapped up a project that implemented Automated Traffic Signal Performance Measures (ATSPMs) and Dedicated Short Range Communications (DSRC) infrastructure on US 231 in Bowling Green and KY 876/US 25 in Richmond. That year, the Cabinet also funded a planning study to evaluate the suitability of Interstate 64 between Lexington and Louisville as a CAV corridor.

Nationally, automated vehicle testing has accelerated, while the US Department of Transportation (USDOT) recently published its National Deployment Plan for Vehicle-to-Everything Technologies. These developments, alongside Kentucky’s recent legislation that authorizes the use of automated vehicles on state highways, motivated KYTC to produce a Strategy for Connected and Automated Vehicles Strategy Version 2.0. 

Version 2.0 is shorter and omits some of the background and historical information found in the first strategy. The first version remains archived on KYTC’s Strategy for Connected & Automated Vehicles Website. After providing a refresher on important terms, the strategy focuses on progress made in Kentucky (emphasizing legislation) and at the national level as well as steps the Cabinet will take to support the rollout of emerging vehicle technologies. Many steps appeared in Version 1.0, but they have been updated to reflect new developments.

2. Defining Connected Vehicles and Automated Vehicles

Connected vehicles (CVs) are equipped with in-vehicle or aftermarket devices that allow them to communicate data about their position, speed, trajectory, and other information. The messages broadcast and received by CV improve the situational awareness, mobility, and safety of users. Examples of messages include forward collision warnings, advisories that alert motorists of changes in driving conditions, suggested speeds for optimal progression, and red-light warnings.

For many years, dedicated short-range communications (DSRC) was seen as the likely foundation of CV communications. But a 2024 ruling by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) winds down the use of DSRC technologies and permits in-vehicle units and roadside units (RSUs) to operate cellular vehicle-to-everything (V2X) in 30 megahertz of the 5.9 GHz band dedicated to intelligent transportation systems. V2X enables communication between vehicles and everything in the roadway environment: pedestrians, bicyclists, other vehicles, and roadside infrastructure via direct and/or cellular networks.

AVs execute some or all facets of the dynamic driving task without a human driver controlling steering, acceleration, and/or deceleration. The SAE International taxonomy and J3016 levels of driving automation categorize vehicles based on which actions they automate (Table 1). Level 0 – 2 vehicles have one or more ADAS and can be purchased in the US today.

Level 3 – 5 vehicles integrate ADS that power their self-driving capabilities. ADS-equipped vehicles process data from onboard sensors, cameras, GPS, radar, sonar, and Lidar to perceive the environment and then plan for and control vehicle movements. In the US, only Mercedes-Benz currently sells Level 3 vehicles, but just in California and Nevada, where Level 3 automation can only be used on a limited number of access-controlled roadways.

3.National- and State-Level Efforts Related to Emerging Vehicle Technologies

Both USDOT and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) have introduced policies and guidance to facilitate CAV deployment. NHTSA has issued several orders and rules to shore up the safety of all users in roadway environments that will handle a growing number of CAVs. These include:

• A 2021 Standing General Order (amended in 2023) that requires manufacturers and operators of vehicles with ADS and SAE Level 2 ADAS involved in crashes on publicly accessible roads to report those incidents to NHTSA. Reports must include data on the vehicle model and ADS/ADAS, incident location, conditions at the time of the crash, and a narrative that specifies ADS/ADAS features engaged when the crash occurred.
• A 2022 final rule that amends federal motor vehicle safety standards related to occupant protection to account for vehicles with ADS that lack traditional manual controls. This rule requires vehicles with ADS technologies to provide levels of occupant protection equivalent to those provided by conventional vehicles. 

• A 2024 final rule that requires new light vehicles to be equipped with automatic emergency braking (AEB) systems that can detect and brake in response to an imminent crash with a downstream vehicle or pedestrian by September 1, 2029. 

USDOT has issued two key documents, beginning with the 2021 Automated Vehicles (AV) Comprehensive Plan, which defines three ADS-related goals: 

• Promote collaboration and transparency with partners and stakeholders
• Modernize regulations to remove barriers to innovative vehicle designs and build safety-focused frameworks and tools to evaluate ADS technologies
• Work with partners and stakeholders to pursue research and demonstration activities to safely integrate ADS into transportation systems

In August 2024, USDOT issued Saving Lives with Connectivity: A Plan to Accelerate V2X Deployment. The agency views accelerated V2X deployment as critical for implementing the Safe System Approach. Consistent with this recognition, the document summarizes USDOT actions undertaken between August 2022 and publication of the report, including: 

• Withdrawing a proposal that mandated DSRC – V2V communications technologies in all new light vehicles
• Assisting the National Telecommunications and Information Administration and FCC with waiving rules to enable immediate deployment of V2X technologies
• Providing technical assistance and guidance to V2X deployers
• Promoting funding opportunities opened up by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act

The document also contains the National V2X Deployment Plan, which lays out short-, medium, and long-term objectives. It emphasizes the need for robust cybersecurity to safeguard data communicated using V2X technologies and to protect personally identifiable information. The plan underscores that V2X can only succeed if all mobile, in-vehicle, and roadside devices are seamlessly interoperable. Like earlier planning documents, this one positions automakers and local governments as key players in rolling out V2X technology. While USDOT will act as a facilitator, the agency contends it is “ultimately it is up to States, tribal government, and local government that own and operate roadway systems to plan, design, construct, operate, and maintain V2X deployments” (p. 10). In this spirit, the plan identifies major actions that state and local governments and public agencies can pursue: 

• Update investment and transportation plans to include V2X technologies
• Deploy and operate secure interoperable, cybersecure infrastructure-based V2X technologies and applications
  • Use federal seed funding to inform and test interoperability
  • Collaborate on message sets and standards for interoperability
  • Work with local emergency services, transit, school bus, and other public sector vehicle fleets to strengthen vehicle participation
  • Make sure interoperability is routinely considered in long-range plans issued by states and MPOs
  • Stay up to date on V2X developments by participating in national events

KYTC participates in the USDOT Joint Program Office CV2X Cohort and Interoperability Working Group. These collaborative groups focus on testing and validating tools and developing nationwide standards for interoperability.