WASHINGTON, Oct. 23 (Xinhua) -- Cities around the world are tapping into self-driving technologies with the hope of solving the "last mile" problem called by urban planners, according to a survey released by Bloomberg Philanthropies Monday.

As the pace of autonomous vehicle innovation picks up, cities around the world have become the proving ground of choice. The survey covered 38 cities all around the world that represent the vanguard of urban governments that are hosting tests, developing their own autonomous vehicle (AV) pilots.

The most common anticipated role for AVs is bridging existing gaps at the edges of transit systems, like transporting people from railway stations to office buildings, the survey showed.

Almost every city indicated interest in using AVs for last-mile solutions, and for a majority of cities it was the highest priority. Other priorities include using AVs for taxis, mass transit and freight.

The survey also showed cities had big barriers to overcome, citing lack of funds and no capacity to manage pilots as top two barriers to cities' AV efforts.

U.S. House lawmakers passed a bill in September to speed up introduction of self-driving vehicles by removing regulatory barriers.

U.S. auto giants GM and Ford both said they would begin to sell self-driving cars by 2021. Enditem

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