Currently, 5G/IMT-2020 networks with their possibilities become more and more services of new areas. These services are integrated into different human life activities. And in several cases, human life depends on Artificial Intel- ligence technologies, Autonomous Systems, and the Internet of Things (IoT), etc. Autonomous vehicles provide very strict requirements to the network in terms of ultra-low latency, high throughput, and wide coverage. To support these requirements, additional technologies must be employed. The current paper discusses the possibility of the use of airborne platforms aiming to support the terrestrial networks for autonomous vehicles realization as a part of delay-critical applications. Airborne platforms will help in the provisioning of safe road trips by delivering time-critical information to the vehicles globally, even in remote areas. In this paper, we discuss requirements and potential solutions for supporting the autonomous vehicle infrastructure, as a part of an intelligent transportation system. It’s proposed to use a sensor network along the road, consists of energy-efficient sensors that can connect in a Mesh network. Also, a novel approach for the detection of biological objects activity on the roadside, based on Artificial Intelligence technologies are suggested. © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020.