U.S. DOT Releases Pair of Autonomous Vehicle Plans On January 8, the U.S. Department of Transportation released "Ensuring American Leadership in Automated Vehicle Technologies: Automated Vehicles 4.0 (AV 4.0)." On January 11, it followed up with the Automated Vehicles Comprehensive Plan (AVCP). January 12, 2021, 11am PST | James Brasuell | The U.S. Department of Transportation on Monday released the "Automated Vehicles Comprehensive Plan" (AVCP), with stated goals to "promote collaboration and transparency, modernize the regulatory environment, and prepare the transportation system for the safe integration of Automated Driving Systems (ADS)," according to a U.S. DOT press release. "This comprehensive plan lays out a vision for the safe integration of automated vehicles into America’s transportation system while ensuring that legitimate concerns about safety, security, and privacy are addressed," according to a statement from Secretary Elaine L. Chao, whose controversial resignation from the position became official on the day the AVCP was announced.