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HERE, a popular provider of mapping services, recently announced that it's pairing with the Iowa Department of Transportation to develop a corridor devoted to both self-driving cars and trucks, reports The Verge.

The corridor is expected to be a roughly 30-mile stretch of I-380 between Cedar Rapids and Iowa City in the eastern part of the state.

HERE will leverage its open-location platform, which includes real-time and predictive traffic maps, to help Iowa officials develop the best ways for self-driving vehicles to communicate with the infrastructure around them. The Iowa Department of Transportation is expected to outfit the stretch of road with a network of cameras and sensors to enable self-driving cars and trucks to communicate with both their surroundings and other vehicles most effectively. The stretch of road will be designed for both self-driving cars and large autonomous tractor-trailers that could soon be utilized by shipping and logistics providers.

These types of zones for autonomous vehicles can be good for ensuring safety and improving shipping efficiency. Rather than setting them loose on public roads, where there is no infrastructure in their surroundings that could help them navigate, giving the vehicles a section of highway specifically designed for their use and testing could help eliminate potential technological malfunctions.

Further, as autonomous shipping solutions can increase the speed and efficiency at which goods are shipped through the supply chain, more states across the country should be looking to create similar zones to encourage autonomous freighting.

Self-driving cars

John Greenough, senior research analyst for BI Intelligence, has compiled a detailed report on self-driving cars that examines the major strides automakers and tech companies have made to overcome the barriers currently preventing fully autonomous cars from hitting the market. Further, the report examines global survey results showing where fully autonomous cars are highly desired.

Here are some key takeaways from the report:

Three barriers have been preventing fully autonomous cars from hitting the road: 1) high technological component prices; 2) varying degrees of consumer trust in the technology; and 3) relatively nonexistent regulations. Howev er, in the past six months, there have been many advances in overcoming these barriers.

Technology has been improving as new market entrants find innovative ways to expand on existing fully autonomous car technology. As a result, the price of the components required for fully autonomous cars has been dropping.

Consumer trust in fully autonomous vehicle technology has increased in the past two years.

California became the first US state to propose regulations. California's regulations stipulate that a fully autonomous car must have a driver behind the wheel at all times, discouraging Google's and Uber's idea of a driverless taxi system.

In full, the report:

Examines consumer trust in fully autonomous vehicles

Identifies technological advancements that have been made in the industry

Analyzes the cost of fully autonomous technology and identifies how cost is being reduced

Explains the current regulations surrounding fully autonomous cars

To get your copy of this invaluable guide, choose one of these options:

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The choice is yours. But however you decide to acquire this report, you’ve given yourself a powerful advantage in your understanding of the emerging world of self-driving cars.