In his last State of the Union address, President Obama hinted that he plans to invest in a 21st-century transportation system before his time in the White House is up but provided no details.

Speaking at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit on Thursday, U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx revealed what Obama’s plans for the future of transportation in America entail.

The President’s FY17 budget – scheduled for announcement on February 9^th – will allocate nearly $4 billion toward pilot programs to develop and test autonomous vehicle technology in designated corridors throughout the U.S., and work with the auto industry and state law makers to develop a framework for testing connected and autonomous vehicles on public roads.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) policy statement on autonomous vehicles, first issued in 2013, also received its first update (PDF) to reflect that “the rapid development of emerging automation technologies means that partially and fully automated vehicles are nearing the point at which widespread deployment is feasible.”

Despite the investment being spread over a decade, the U.S. Department of Transport (DOT) is making some significant short-term commitments to the advancement of autonomous vehicle technology in 2016.

“Model” state policy to lead to national policy on automated vehicles

Within six months, NHTSA will spearhead the development of a framework to guide the deployment and operation of autonomous vehicles, set out performance characteristics for fully autonomous vehicles and determine a uniform set of parameters to test and analyze said vehicles’ performance.

In that same timeframe, NHTSA will work with state partners, the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators and others to create a model state policy on automated vehicles that will eventually form the basis for an overarching national policy.

New autonomous vehicle standards

Foxx also encouraged manufacturers to submit rule interpretation requests in cases where new technology may not fit within current regulations. For example, BMW of North America recently submitted a rule interpretation request (PDF) to confirm that the company’s new self-parking system meets federal standards.

If a rule interpretation is not sufficient, manufacturers can request an exemption to allow the deployment of fully autonomous vehicles. If the NHTSA “determines that an exemption would ease development of new safety features,” the agency can allow the deployment of up to 2,500 vehicles for up to two years.

No driver needed

Most notably, the DOT is embracing the idea of fully autonomous, driverless cars on America’s roads:

DOT and NHTSA will develop the new tools necessary for this new era of vehicle safety and mobility, and will consider seeking new authorities when they are necessary to ensure that fully autonomous vehicles, including those designed without a human driver in mind, are deployable in large numbers when they are demonstrated to provide an equivalent or higher level of safety than is now available [emphasis added].

This could pave the way for self-driving cars such as Google’s test vehicles, designed to be autonomous from the ground up and lacking conventional controls such as a steering wheel and brake or accelerator pedals, and Tesla’s new Summon mode that could one day be used to summon a car across the country.

Safety is a big caveat, however, and judging by reports submitted by manufacturers testing autonomous vehicles in California that show unacceptably high incidences of human drivers having to take over from the machines, truly driverless cars may still be some way off.

Image via U.S. Department of Transport on Twitter (@USDOT)