A computer-implemented method for determining a speed control rate for operating an autonomous vehicle, the method comprising: determining a plurality of speed control rate candidates for a speed control command of operating an autonomous vehicle; for each of the speed control rate candidates, calculating a plurality of individual costs (502, 503, 504, 505, 506) for the speed control rate candidate by applying a plurality of cost functions, each cost function corresponding to one of a plurality of cost categories, and calculating a total cost for the speed control rate candidate based on the individual costs (502, 503, 504, 505, 506) produced by the cost functions; selecting one of the speed control rate candidates having a lowest total cost as a target speed control rate; and generating a speed control command based on the selected speed control rate candidate to control a speed of the autonomous vehicle, the method being characterized in that a speed control rate refers to a change amount of a speed control position, and the speed control position refers to a throttle or brake position in percentage of a maximum throttle or brake value; and in that calculating an individual cost for the speed control rate candidate comprises calculating a past speed based individual cost based on a difference between a previous target vehicle speed and a previous actual vehicle speed of the autonomous vehicle in the previous command cycle using a past speed based cost function. determining a plurality of speed control rate candidates for a speed control command of operating an autonomous vehicle; for each of the speed control rate candidates, calculating a plurality of individual costs (502, 503, 504, 505, 506) for the speed control rate candidate by applying a plurality of cost functions, each cost function corresponding to one of a plurality of cost categories, and calculating a total cost for the speed control rate candidate based on the individual costs (502, 503, 504, 505, 506) produced by the cost functions; calculating a plurality of individual costs (502, 503, 504, 505, 506) for the speed control rate candidate by applying a plurality of cost functions, each cost function corresponding to one of a plurality of cost categories, and calculating a total cost for the speed control rate candidate based on the individual costs (502, 503, 504, 505, 506) produced by the cost functions; selecting one of the speed control rate candidates having a lowest total cost as a target speed control rate; and generating a speed control command based on the selected speed control rate candidate to control a speed of the autonomous vehicle, the method being characterized in that a speed control rate refers to a change amount of a speed control position, and the speed control position refers to a throttle or brake position in percentage of a maximum throttle or brake value; and in that calculating an individual cost for the speed control rate candidate comprises calculating a past speed based individual cost based on a difference between a previous target vehicle speed and a previous actual vehicle speed of the autonomous vehicle in the previous command cycle using a past speed based cost function.