AVs will increase traffic in overcrowded downtown areas, says study

Autonomous vehicles (AVs) will reduce the number of cars and overall travel times in cities but potentially worsen conditions in downtown areas, says the World Economic Forum. The findings come from a study conducted alongside the Boston Consulting Group (BCG). Called Reshaping Urban Mobility with Autonomous Vehicles: Lessons from the City of Boston, the partnership recommends city and state governments encourage higher sharing of AVs - and avoid significantly moving away from mass transit systems. A
July 10, 2018 Read time: 2 mins
Autonomous vehicles (AVs) will reduce the number of cars and overall travel times in cities but potentially worsen conditions in downtown areas, says the World Economic Forum. The findings come from a study conducted alongside the 4055 Boston Consulting Group (BCG).


Called Reshaping Urban Mobility with Autonomous Vehicles: Lessons from the City of Boston, the partnership recommends city and state governments encourage higher sharing of AVs - and avoid significantly moving away from mass transit systems.

A traffic simulation model of the city found neighbourhoods outside of the downtown core would see an improvement in traffic and travel times. In addition, a shift to autonomous mobility would reduce the number of parking spaces required in Boston by 48%.

Meanwhile, an analysis predicts a move to mobility-on-demand in AVs (such as robo-shuttles) and current taxi and ride-sharing services – which currently make up 30% of all trips in the greater Boston area.

Nikolaus Lang, senior partner at BCG and co-author of the study, says travellers are likely to choose low-capacity autonomous taxis and shuttles for trips lower than four miles, rather than taking buses or trains.

"This, in turn, would increase the number of cars on the road and average travel time by 5.5% in Boston’s downtown neighbourhood," Lang adds.

Travel time could be improved by 15% through the introduction of occupancy-based pricing schemes to discourage riding alone, says the research.

Additionally, converting on-street parking to dedicated pick-up and drop-off areas, surface mass transit or driving lanes could decrease travel time by 10%. Similarly, designation of dedicated lanes for shared AVs has the potential to reduce travel time by 8%.

A full copy of the report is available %$Linker: 2 External <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary /> 0 0 0 link-external here false http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Reshaping_Urban_Mobility_with_Autonomous_Vehicles_2018.pdf false false%>.

UTC

Related Content

  • August 8, 2018
    Regulation time-lag will hit driverless technology hard says leading consultancy BDO
    The legislation surrounding driverless cars is lagging so far behind the technology involved that the industry is unlikely to see a regulatory framework in place any time soon says leading international business, finance and taxation consultancy BDO. And IEEE, "the world’s largest technical professional organisation dedicated to advancing technology for the benefit of humanity" can only see problems ahead as the politicians fall further and further behind. BDO has been looking at a report from www.Spectr
    Read More
  • October 15, 2018
    Cohda Wireless to trial AVs which can talk to each other in Australia
    Cohda Wireless is to trial two autonomous vehicles (AVs) in Australia this month. The MKZ Sedans can communicate with traffic lights and each other – and the company also expects them to be able to detect pedestrians around blind corners. The initiative, approved by the South Australian government, will take place in Adelaide’s central business district on closed-off roads. Dr Paul Gray, chief executive officer of Cohda Wireless, told ABC that the technology is intended to reduce the chance of huma
    Read More
  • December 21, 2018
    London ‘should emulate New York’ to reduce congestion, says Karhoo
    London could reduce congestion by emulating New York when it comes to open data, claims technology firm Karhoo. New York has publicly-available anonymised TPEP/LPEP75 data which allowed Karhoo to assess the impact of taxi and private hire (PH) movements on traffic flow, congestion and pollution, the company says. It adds that if Transport for London (TfL) were to follow suit, it “would be quick and relatively low-cost given that almost every licenced vehicle is connected to tracking systems already”. Tf
    Read More
  • August 15, 2019
    LA launches own ‘Green New Deal’
    Los Angeles, once a temple to the automobile, has followed the Democrats in launching its own Green New Deal – and the city has made big pledges on urban mobility investment The Democratic Party has started something. The Green New Deal, one of whose most high-profile supporters is new congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, intends to persuade the public that swift action is necessary to combat climate change. Now the city of Los Angeles has followed suit, releasing what it calls ‘LA’s Green New Deal’.
    Read More

Highlighted Content