Self-Driving Cars Learn Mostly in Cities, and That Gap Is Now Measurable

Autonomous vehicles promise to reshape transportation, but the safety of those vehicles depends on where and how they learn to drive.

The researchers assembled a baseline of 33 U.S. testing locations known to be in use in 2019, then added six additional cities documented as automated vehicle testing sites in 2025.

The study’s reference literature documents these challenges in detail, including reviews of autonomous vehicle deployment in rural areas and federal initiatives such as the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Rural Autonomous Vehicle research program launched in April 2025.

Subject of Research: Diversity of autonomous vehicle testing sites in the United States Article Title: An analysis of autonomous vehicle testing site diversity Article References: Gettel, O., Gates, C. W., Gettel, C. D., Huggins, J., & Peters, D. (2026).

An analysis of autonomous vehicle testing site diversity.