Austin took a bold move last week in making the city a global leader in automated electric vehicle adoption. A resolution passed by City Council directs the City Manager to create a “New Mobility Electric/Autonomous Vehicle Plan” that will:

• Prepare the city to be a leader in electric autonomous vehicle adoption
• Support our city’s overall greenhouse gas emission reduction goals by creating measurable targets that reduce Austin’s transportation-related emissions
• Create opportunities through electric autonomous vehicles for increased accessibility and mobility for seniors, persons with disabilities, and others without a driver’s license or a car
• Reduce the cost of transportation as well as cut down on traffic in our city’s streets by making it easier to shed private vehicle ownership and migrate to shared, electric, autonomous mobility services for Austinites’ transportation needs.

“Austin should be – and to a great extent already is – to automated electric vehicles what Detroit was to the last century of automakers,” Austin Mayor Steve Adler said in a Facebook post announcing the passage of the resolution. “Austin can literally drive the future because we are a welcoming, innovative city that is comfortable testing new technologies.”

The plan will be completed and shared back to the public and City Council by June 15th. More info>>