Would self-driving vehicles increase occupant productivity?

New research by Michael Sivak and Brandon Schoettle of the University of Michigan Sustainable Worldwide Transportation indicates that currently, in the US the average occupant of a light-duty vehicle spends about an hour a day travelling—time that could potentially be put to more productive use. Indeed, increased productivity is one of the expected benefits of self-driving vehicles.
September 16, 2016 Read time: 2 mins

New research by Michael Sivak and Brandon Schoettle of the University of Michigan.

Sustainable Worldwide Transportation indicates that currently, in the US the average occupant of a light-duty vehicle spends about an hour a day travelling—time that could potentially be put to more productive use. Indeed, increased productivity is one of the expected benefits of self-driving vehicles.

The data presented in this white paper indicate that for about 62 per cent of Americans, self-driving vehicles currently are not likely to result in an improvement in productivity. This is the case because 23 per cent said they would not ride in such vehicles and 36 per cent would be so apprehensive in such vehicles that they would only watch the road. Furthermore, out of the remaining 41 per cent, around eight per cent would frequently experience some level of motion sickness—for an additional three per cent of occupants.

Of additional concern are non-traditional positions and postures being considered for occupants of self-driving vehicles (positions and postures for which current occupant protection systems are not optimised), and the behaviour in crashes of unrestrained objects being used for activities in the pursuit of increased productivity.

Consequently, the hoped-for increased productivity in self-driving vehicles would materialise only if the following are achieved: (1) an increased confidence of occupants in self-driving vehicles, which would allow them to be more interested in performing productive tasks while riding in such vehicles; (2) addressing the inherent motion-sickness problem; and (3) solving occupant-protection issues related to non-traditional seating positions and postures, and unrestrained objects becoming projectiles during crashes (or potentially being placed between the occupants and their airbags).

Also of importance is the fact that current trips in light-duty vehicles average only about 19 minutes - a rather short duration for sustained productive activity or invigorating sleep.

Location Based Systems

Related Content

  • February 6, 2012
    Driver training saves lives, increases profits, reduces costs
    An innovative UK Government initiative on work-related driver training has resulted in astonishing success, not only in terms of government objectives, but also in substantial cost-benefits for companies and public sector authorities participating in the scheme: they save lives and increase profits/reduce costs Here, we present an overview of the initiative and, overleaf, provide a detailed cost-benefit analysis which amply illustrates why it has been enthusiastically embraced by industry and the public sec
    Read More
  • April 20, 2017
    Increased automation is already improving road safety
    Richard Cuerden considers how many of the technologies developed as part of a move toward autonomous vehicles are already being deployed as ADAS improve road safety. The drive to create autonomous vehicles has caused a re-evaluation of what is needed to safely navigate today’s roads and the development of systems that can replace the driver in many scenarios. However, many manufacturers are not waiting for ‘tomorrow’ and are already incorporating these systems in their new cars as Advanced Driver Assistanc
    Read More
  • September 23, 2014
    Does ADAS create as many problems as it solves
    Victoria Banks and Neville Stanton [1] of Southampton University’s Transportation Research Group examine the real impact of creeping driver automation. Safety research suggests that 90% of accidents are thought to be a result of driver inattentiveness to unpredictable or incomplete information and the vision is that highly automated vehicles will lead to accident-free driving in the future.
    Read More
  • January 16, 2012
    Dutch survey shows drivers are in favour of road user charging
    'Keep it simple, stupid' is an oft-forgotten axiom but in terms of road user charging it is entirely appropriate. So says the ANWB's Ferry Smith. A couple of decades ago, it might have been largely true that the technology aspects of advanced road infrastructure were the main obstacles to deployment. However, 20 years or more of development have led to a situation where such 'obstacles' are often no more than a political fig-leaf. Area-wide Road User Charging (RUC) is a case in point; speak candidly to syst
    Read More

Highlighted Content