Autonomous Vehicles

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Greater Phoenix: Taking the lead in driverless vehicles

Ninety-four percent of accidents are caused by human error. Not only are driverless vehicles the way of the commuting future, they have the potential to save lives and improve quality of life. Legacy businesses and innovations centers from around the world are looking at Greater Phoenix as a hub of evolution for this industry and one of the best driverless vehicle cities to do business. This is why we’re known as The Connected Place – where business comes together to make the world better.

Source: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

Business Environment

Governor Ducey signed an Executive Order and established the ADOT Self-Driving Vehicle Oversight Committee, allowing for testing on Arizona roads.

Favorable Climate

From snow, to desert, to mountains and flat land — Arizona has excellent infrastructure and weather for testing driverless vehicles.

Growing Workforce

Arizona’s top schools and training facilities are preparing students for the growing needs of the driverless vehicle industry.

Arizona is committed to hosting the emergence of new technologies

Executive order

In 2015, Arizona Governor Doug Ducey signed an executive order allowing for the testing and piloting of driverless vehicles on certain public roads. Arizona is committed to hosting the emergence of new technologies. We believe that the testing and operation of driverless cars can produce social benefits such as the elimination of traffic and congestions, increased safety, reduced parking needs and mobility options. This is just one reason companies like Waymo have chosen to do business in Arizona and why Phoenix is one of the top cities for driverless cars.

Read the full Executive Order.

Arizona is a top tech city and is home to the Institute for Automated Mobility, a new consortium of private sector companies, public officials and university research faculty that will collaborate on state-of-the-art research in Arizona.

Arizona offers AV testing and research space

In 2018, Arizona Governor Doug Ducey signed an executive order creating the Institute for Automated Mobility (IAM) in partnership with Intel, Arizona State University, Northern Arizona University, University of Arizona, and other public and private organizations that will collaborate on state-of-the-art research in Arizona. The goal of the institute is to advance all aspects of autonomous vehicles from science to safety to policy.

Read the full Executive Order.

Greater Phoenix is a leader in the Mountain West for manufacturing operations

Lucid Motors selects Arizona

In 2016, after an intense selection process and consideration of 60 locations, Lucid Motors selected Arizona as the location to build its car manufacturing facility. Expecting to bring 2,000+ jobs and $700M in capital investment by 2020, Arizona is one of the top autonomous car friendly states as well as makes itself a prime location due to its proximity to Mexico, cross-border supply chain, favorable business climate and access to top talent.

Greater Phoenix: By the Numbers