Sorry to break it to you, but autonomous vehicles won’t rid the world of gridlock, according to new research.
The study: A report released yesterday used simulations to examine how traffic flows would change around the city of Boston as more robotic cars hit the rounds.
The results: They found self-driving cars could lead to a 5.5 percent increase in traffic in the city’s downtown. While there will be fewer cars on the road overall, congestion will increase because commuters will likely choose the new vehicles over public transportation. On the other hand, the city would be able to reduce its number of parking spaces by almost half.
Why it matters: As we’ve written about extensively, US cities could be transformed by shared autonomous vehicles. Urban areas similar to Boston can prevent more gridlock by encouraging sharing of self-driving vehicles and continued use of mass transit systems. To do this, the report recommends lowering prices for autonomous carpoolers and the creation of self-driving only lanes.
The study: A report released yesterday used simulations to examine how traffic flows would change around the city of Boston as more robotic cars hit the rounds.
The results: They found self-driving cars could lead to a 5.5 percent increase in traffic in the city’s downtown. While there will be fewer cars on the road overall, congestion will increase because commuters will likely choose the new vehicles over public transportation. On the other hand, the city would be able to reduce its number of parking spaces by almost half.
Why it matters: As we’ve written about extensively, US cities could be transformed by shared autonomous vehicles. Urban areas similar to Boston can prevent more gridlock by encouraging sharing of self-driving vehicles and continued use of mass transit systems. To do this, the report recommends lowering prices for autonomous carpoolers and the creation of self-driving only lanes.
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