Introduction: The Automated Road Transportation Symposium 2023

In 2023, the Automated Road Transportation Symposium returned to its most frequent host location, San Francisco, the center of activity for automated driving. The plenary presentations and breakout discussions continued to provide the meeting participants with the most up-to-date and authoritative information about the current international state of development and deployment of road vehicle automation systems, retaining its standing as the essential global meeting for industry, government and research practitioners in the field. The participants enjoyed the added benefit of driverless ride-hailing rides around San Francisco, which Cruise provided for all who registered for the conference and Waymo provided for invited guests. These experiences energized the discussions among participants, who could compare notes on their rides and could gain a fuller appreciation of the technical accomplishments and challenges associated with driverless automated driving in a high-density city.