A revolution is afoot.

The future of transportation, no doubt, includes autonomous vehicles, and according to Dr. Alain Kornhauser, Princeton University’s Professor of Operations Research and Financial Engineering, that future is coming much sooner than we’ve ever imagined.

How, then, can we prepare for it?

That question served as the theme of the Transportation Management Association of Chester County’s luncheon last Friday at the Chester Valley Golf Club in Malvern, where Dr. Kornhauser was a guest speaker.

He said that safety must be at the forefront of planning.

“Call them safe-driving, self-driving, or driverless cars – whatever you want,” said Dr. Kornhauser, who is also Director of the Interdepartmental Transportation Research Program at Princeton and an affiliated faculty member of the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. “They’re absolutely inevitable. Driving is one of the most-dangerous occupations, even more than coal mining. More than 90 percent of crashes involve human error, and it’s only getting worse.

“People don’t want to drive their car anymore. They want to entertain themselves! Driving is getting in the way of entertainment, so what do we do? We continue to distract ourselves while putting other drivers at risk. Continuous vigilance is unrealistic.”

Dr. Kornhauser further advocated for the creation of autonomous vehicles, saying they will “basically print money for the insurance industry.”

According to him, autonomous vehicles will be impactful in myriad ways. Not only does he believe they will reduce congestion, but they’ll also decrease fatalities by 50 percent.

Today’s congestion will be a thing of the past because automated vehicles will be programmed to pick up multiple commuters in the area who are traveling to the same destination.

“Mobility will be delivered like a service in the future,” said Dr. Kornhauser. “You’ll choose when you need a vehicle, and the car will come to you. There’ll be no need to own your own vehicle.”

Roger Cohen, Policy Director for the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, was also on hand to share the status of the Commonwealth’s policies on highly automated vehicles (HAVs). He indicated that PennDOT’s main focus is on safety and infrastructure maintenance to accommodate for the new technology.

“The future of transportation is automated,” said Cohen. “It’s coming, and we need to be prepared. Keeping the infrastructure in a state of good repair will be key. Automated vehicles will not be able to operate at optimal capacity if the roads are not up to par.”

The state’s Autonomous Vehicles Testing Policy Task Force, co-chaired by Cohen, recently released its recommendations to PennDOT Secretary Leslie Richards for developing policies to oversee testing of HAVs. An online public forum will be held Dec. 12 from 7-8 PM to review the policy.

“The key is managing (the future of transportation),” said Tim Phelps, the Executive Director of TMACC, “not reacting to it.”