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Transportation Chairman Takes a Spin in Driverless Vehicle

U.S. Rep. Bill Shuster, chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, will take a spin in self-driving vehicles Wednesday morning.

U.S. Rep. Bill Shuster, chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, will take a spin in self-driving vehicles Wednesday morning.

Shuster is scheduled to take a 30-mile trip in a 2011 Cadillac SRX equipped with driverless technology developed by a Carnegie Mellon University research program.

A Republican from Pennsylvania, Shuster will also be joined on the trip from Cranberry, Pa., to the Pittsburgh International Airport by Barry Schoch, the state's secretary of transportation.

The vehicle is scheduled to arrive at the airport at around 11:35 a.m. Wednesday.

While Google's efforts at developing self-driving vehicles have gotten more attention, Carnegie Mellon in cooperation with General Motors has also been developing autonomous vehicle technology.

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In 2007, the university and the automaker teamed up to develop a driverless vehicles that won a DARPA contest by completing a 55-mile course. They've continued to spend millions of dollars since then developing driverless vehicle technology.

As Governing reported last month, while programmers and engineers continue to pursue the technological advancements powering driverless vehicles, policymakers will have to develop the legal framework that dictates how the vehicles will be governed when used on public roadways.

The research team will broadcast live video and track the GPS coordinates of the lawmakers' ride here, starting around 11 a.m. Wednesday. 

Caroline Cournoyer is GOVERNING's senior web editor.
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