The Impact of Autonomous Vehicles on Cities: A Review

Autonomous vehicles (AVs) are starting to hit our roads. It is only a matter of time until the technological challenges still facing full AV implementation are solved, and legal, social, and transport issues related to AVs become part of the public discussion. AVs have the potential to become a major catalyst for urban transformation. To explore some of these transformations, first, the authors discuss the possibility of decoupling the many functions of urban vehicles from the form factor (without drivers, do cars need to look like they look today?). Second, they question whether AVs will lead to more or fewer cars on the roads, highlighting the synergies between AVs and ride-sharing schemes. Third, with AVs as part of multimodal and sharing-mobility systems, millions of square kilometers currently used for parking spaces might be liberated, or even change the way we design road space. Fourth, freed from the fatigue related to traffic, the authors question whether AVs would make people search for home locations farther from cities, increasing urban sprawl, or would rather attract more residents to city centers, also freed from congestion and pollution. Fifth, depending on responses to the previous questions and innovative traffic algorithms, the authors ask whether AVs will demand more or less road infrastructure. They conclude by suggesting that AVs offer the first opportunity to rethink urban life and city design since cars replaced horse-powered traffic and changed the design of cities for tha hundred years.

• Record URL:
  https://doi.org/10.1080/10630732.2018.1493883
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/oclc/25851022
• Supplemental Notes:
  • © 2018 The Society of Urban Technology. Abstract republished with permission of Taylor & Francis.
• Authors:
  • Duarte, Fábio
  • Ratti, Carlo
• Publication Date: 2018-10

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Web
• Features: References;
• Pagination: pp 3-18
• Serial:
  • Journal of Urban Technology
  • Volume: 25
  • Issue Number: 4
  • Publisher: Routledge
  • ISSN: 1063-0732
  • EISSN: 1466-1853
  • Serial URL: https://www.tandfonline.com/toc/cjut20/current

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Cities; Infrastructure; Intelligent vehicles; Urban design
• Subject Areas: Highways; Planning and Forecasting; Vehicles and Equipment;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01686523
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Nov 26 2018 10:05AM