Building public trust in self-driving cars: Keke Long wins award for research communication

Autonomous and connected vehicle technology can improve road safety, increase mobility, reduce emissions, and ease congestion, but are you ready to let go of the wheel? Would you be comfortable in a self-driving vehicle or next to one on a bicycle?

Given how much driving commands your attention, it is easy to understand why you may hesitate to trust new technology that takes you out of the driver’s seat. But the technology is here and the benefits it offers are only possible if we get on board, so how do we do that?

It all comes down to building public trust and confidence, a topic that Dr. Keke Long knows well and explores with a new award-winning paper titled Safer Rides, Smarter Futures: How We Build Public Trust in Self-Driving Cars.

A 2024 alumna of the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department and current postdoctoral researcher in the Connected & Autonomous Transportation Systems (CATS) Laboratory directed by Professor Xiaopeng Li, Long’s research focuses on two new approaches to increase the safety and predictability of self-driving vehicles: PERL (Physics-Enhanced Residual Learning and VLM-MPC (Vision-Language-Model-based Model Predictive Control). The results of her work aim to build trust with passengers, pedestrians, and communities alike.

“Context understanding helps autonomous vehicles handle complex real-world situations more safely. It also makes their decisions easier to understand­­­—people can see why a vehicle slowed down or changed lanes based on the situation. When autonomous vehicles are both safer and more transparent, trust naturally follows,” Long says.

The paper is both conversational and relatable. Long uses clear, concise language to describe the complex and technical nature of her research. A critical eye for detail along with an honest discussion of what she has discovered and the work that remains to pave the road to public trust are both engaging and thought-provoking.

The skill and dedication to science communication shown in the paper earned Long the Wisconsin Initiative for Science Literacy (WISL) Award for Communicating Postdoctoral Research to the Public.

“The Wisconsin Idea emphasizes that research should benefit all people, not just stay within academic walls. Writing for the public is my way of practicing this principle,” Long shares. “If we want people to trust autonomous vehicles, they need to understand the research behind them. Science communication allows me to share not just what we’re building, but why it matters for everyone’s safety and mobility.”