If you want to see the future of transportation, head to Phoenix. You’ll witness a quiet revolution underway: Autonomous vehicles—absent any human driver—navigate the city streets and highways with precision. These aren’t test runs. They’re successful businesses taking real paying riders where they want to go. In Arizona, driverless ride-hailing is an ordinary reality thanks to a regulatory model that prioritizes freedom and innovation over bureaucratic control.
This is the Arizona model, which has created the most successful autonomous vehicle state in the country, according to the Goldwater Institute’s latest report, Autonomous Vehicles Thrive in Arizona’s Free-Market Fast Lane: State’s Model Sets Course for Future of Transportation Innovation.
The potential upside is immense. In Arizona alone, one successful AV company has logged over 20 million miles of rider-only service as of September 2024. The results speak for themselves: 81% fewer airbag-deployment crashes, 78% fewer injury-causing crashes, and 62% fewer police-reported crashes compared to human drivers.
The new report demonstrates how jurisdictional authority matters in creating a predictable environment that nurtures innovators. When new technologies or industries emerge, they can often succumb to the whims of state government rulemaking or a patchwork of regulations emanating from cities and towns. But when it comes to autonomous vehicles (AV), Arizonans have reaped the benefits of a state-based framework rooted in promoting freedom over burdensome red tape. The Grand Canyon State has pioneered a liberty-first framework for AV testing and deployment that has unleashed innovation in the marketplace and made the state a national leader in autonomous vehicles.
A Free-Market Framework That Puts Safety First
The state’s leadership began with then-Governor Doug Ducey’s 2015 executive order, which was subsequently modernized in 2018 and codified into law by the legislature in 2021. Under this framework, AVs must meet federal safety standards, maintain insurance, and follow traffic laws—basic expectations that balance safety with scalability. Arizona’s Department of Transportation (ADOT) plays a focused, restrained role, intervening only when necessary and avoiding the mission creep that so often stifles innovation in other jurisdictions.
The widespread adoption of autonomous vehicle technology presents a unique opportunity to drastically enhance road safety, provide better transportation options for elderly or disabled individuals, reduce traffic, and improve air quality, all while creating vast economic gains through improved efficiency in the shipping industry.
Autonomous vehicles don’t get tired, drunk, or distracted. They are designed to eliminate the single greatest threat on the road: human error.
But the promise of AVs extends beyond safe driving. For the elderly, the disabled, and millions of non-drivers, AVs represent the ability to overcome one of healthcare’s most persistent barriers: lack of transportation. Missed medical appointments cost the system billions annually and disproportionately harm those with disabilities. AVs, particularly when designed with accessibility in mind, offer a new level of independence—one where mobility is no longer a function of physical ability.
The Arizona Model Attracts Investment and Jobs
Policymakers should adopt the freedom-oriented principles of “permissionless innovation” as their default and avoid erecting unnecessary regulatory barriers to AV innovation in order to reap the full benefits of this game-changing technology.
And yet, some states are moving in the opposite direction. “Driver in” bills and city-level permitting schemes threaten to fragment the regulatory landscape, introducing uncertainty and compliance nightmares for companies operating across jurisdictions. These efforts, driven by special interests and speculative fears, ignore the clear benefits and real-world data accumulated from years of studying AV safety.
Arizona’s experience offers a counterpoint—and a roadmap. States that follow the Arizona Model will not only attract investment and jobs, but also position themselves at the forefront of transportation’s next revolution. The choice facing lawmakers is simple: regulate for yesterday, or innovate for tomorrow.
The roads of the future will see autonomous vehicles. And Arizona is already miles ahead.
You can read the full report here.
