Skip to main content

Industry collaboration ‘the key to avoiding autonomous driving traffic congestion’

A joint whitepaper published by Here and SBD argues that new levels of vehicle automation will increase traffic congestion in the foreseeable future and it's up to the automotive industry to enhance its collaboration in order to create a seamless transition as we reach these new levels of automation. According to co-author of the study, Andrew Hart, director at SBD, autonomous cars have the potential in the long-term to revolutionise mobility and radically improve the safety of our roads. However, the pa
July 19, 2016 Read time: 2 mins
A joint whitepaper published by 7643 Here and 4263 SBD argues that new levels of vehicle automation will increase traffic congestion in the foreseeable future and it's up to the automotive industry to enhance its collaboration in order to create a seamless transition as we reach these new levels of automation.

According to co-author of the study, Andrew Hart, director at SBD, autonomous cars have the potential in the long-term to revolutionise mobility and radically improve the safety of our roads. However, the path towards the fully autonomous car is full of potholes, which may create short-term pains in unexpected ways. The automotive industry and road authorities will need to work carefully together to navigate around these potholes, in order to gain the trust of consumers and reap the societal benefits of this new technology, he said.

The whitepaper claims there are two main factors that will determine just how big the impact automated vehicles will have on traffic congestion. The first is the level of vehicle automation. The second is the corresponding level of user adoption.

While basic levels of automation could have a small positive impact in helping to ease traffic congestion, higher levels of automation could have a detrimental effect on congestion when the user adoption rate is low.

In order to help mitigate the increase in congestion during these transition periods, Here and SBD urge the automotive industry to work together towards collaborative autonomous cars. This includes formalised efforts to break down information silos and establish vehicle, road network and infrastructure data exchanges in conjunction with local, state and national transportation agencies.

The white paper describes how levels of automation represent a sequence rather than a binary occurrence where one day the roads are exclusively filled with self-driving vehicles. According to SBD, 11 million cars in Europe, USA and China will be shipped in 2016 with driver assistance systems such as adaptive cruise control, automatic emergency braking or lane keep assistance. From 2020, car manufacturers have announced a new generation of autonomous vehicles will be launched that achieve Level 4 to 5 automation, allowing drivers to hand over control to the vehicle.

Related Content

  • June 4, 2015
    After two decades of research, ITS is getting into its stride
    Colin Sowman gets the global view on how ITS has shaped the way we travel today and what will shape the way we travel tomorrow. Over the past two decades the scope and spread of intelligent transport systems has grown and diversified to encompass all modes of travel while at the same time integrating and consolidating. Two decades ago the idea of detecting cyclists or pedestrians may have been considered impossible and why would you want to do that anyway? Today cyclists can account for a significant propor
  • January 31, 2012
    Managing congestion, better information changes perceptions
    Kapsch's Dietrich Leihs talks about the true fundamentals of urban pricing. In some Italian and German towns and cities, the solution to congestion is an outright ban on certain types of vehicles. As far as Dietrich Leihs is concerned, any attempt to sweeten the pill that is congestion charging is only ever going to be a partial success at best.
  • February 1, 2012
    Will standardisation increase ITS interoperability?
    Theoretical balance Kallistratos Dionelis, secretary general of ASECAP, comments on the European Commission's new ICT Standardisation Work Programme. I've just read a proposal from the European Commission on the 2010-2013 ICT Standardisation Work Programme. As ASECAP Secretary General this is one of my responsibilities. I work to receive information, to disseminate information and to build bridges and mutual understanding between policy-makers and the industrial world, between ASECAP and others.
  • April 13, 2018
    2getthere calls for stricter AV regulations
    Authorities will have to introduce strict regulations to ensure the safe introduction of autonomous vehicles (AVs) on public roads, according to a white paper published by Utrecht-based company 2getthere. Called Safety in Autonomous Transit, the report states that authorities should set more firm conditions on road safety, reliability and availability of these vehicles and also for the spatial planning of public areas where AVs operate. 2getthere highlights that governments will have to set tighter