An article on CityLab.com explores why planners aren't doing much to prepare for driverless cars. The author writes that as of mid-2013, only one of 25 MPO’s in large urban areas has even mentioned driverless cars in their plans. In speaking with planners, it seems part of the problem stems from the complete uncertainty about what a driverless car future will look like and how they will change people’s behavior. Large cities such as San Francisco and Seattle have done some studies, and conclude that vehicle miles traveled are likely to increase, not decrease, as people are willing to live farther out without an onerous and stressful commute. So on one hand it makes sense that planners would be hesitant to plan for a future that may look very different than what we can imagine now. On the other hand, these long range plans really do have to start thinking about these issues, as it’s beginning to affect current infrastructure and transit plans. Driverless cars will take up much less road space since they can travel close together. So construction now of adding more road capacity could be pointless from that point of view. Recently, a politician in Florida argued against a transit expansion, saying that with the driverless cars of the future, transit could become less necessary. What’s suggested now is for planners to concentrate on bridge repair and other similar infrastructure projects, as the need for those will not change with driverless cars.
Link to article: Why aren't planners preparing for driverless cars?
If driverless cars were to dominate the raods, we could free up a lot of space reserved for parking! There would be less need for EVERY household to have their own private automobiles and in turn less need for so many cars sitting idle in parking spots. Imagine how the landscape would transform with less parking spaces. How would planners plan for cars that never need to sit in a parking space?
ReplyDelete