Elaine Chao: Expect an infrastructure package this fall

Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao is used to sharing the stage with presidents, dignitaries, and experts when she attends an event.

Last Tuesday in Michigan was a little different as it marked the first time she shared the spotlight with no one; at least no one at the wheel of any of the cars when she rolled out the Trump administration's initial recommendations for how autonomous vehicles could be regulated.

While the local elected officials, university dignitaries, and business leaders were thrilled to have Chao and the program at the university, it was clear the dozen or so driverless cars were the stars of the show.

"This is such a great moment for this country; driverless cars are coming and America is rightly at the forefront of the technology to perfect and produce this new way to transport people," Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Mich., told the Washington Examiner at the event.

"The potential to change mobility obstacles in this country is limitless, now the elderly, or blind or disabled will have the same mobility freedoms that the rest of us have. It is good for the economy, and it is an incredible opportunity for members of both parties to come together on something that is cutting edge, safer and reinvigorates the auto industry," she said.

The rollout was held at the University of Michigan's North Campus, which has been turned into a full-scale diorama of Main Street America called MCity. The "city" is as complex as any American city normally would be, filled with traffic lights, intersections, various traffic signs, sidewalks, mailboxes, orange construction barrels, and wayward students on bicycles. Those students are purposely called upon to cycle recklessly to test the autonomous technology.