John Maddox is senior director of autonomous safety and compliance at Lyft. The views expressed in this commentary are his own.

When President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the National Interstate and Defense Highways Act in 1956, he predicted that the connected highway system would change the face of America. And it did exactly that - reshaping the way we move, and creating tremendous economic value. But it also created new challenges for our communities.

Now, we stand to witness the next transportation revolution with the advent of self-driving cars.

Self-driving vehicles have the potential to improve safety and reshape cities to transport people more efficiently. But to reach that future, we have work to do. Public and private stakeholders, including rideshare companies, public transit operators and local, state and federal governments must work together to create consistent industry regulations and streamline the testing and deployment of autonomous vehicles.

Rideshare's role

Early on, Lyft was on the front lines, working with local, state and federal regulators to introduce ridesharing to cities and towns across the country -- many of which were governed by a patchwork of rules.

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