Sustainable Accessibility and the Implementation of Automated Vehicles: Identifying Critical Decisions

The emergence of fully Automated Vehicles (AVs) is expected to occur in the next 10 to 30 years. The uncertainties related to AVs pose a series of questions about what the societal consequences of such technology are. Mainly, what are the consequences of AVs regarding accessibility? This paper uses Geurs and Van Wee’s definition of accessibility to give an exploratory answer to this question. Using a scenario-based approach which allows identifying critical decisions that will emerge shortly (or are already emerging) concerning automated travelling, this paper proposes that AVs have great potential to both seriously aggravate and considerably alleviate accessibility problems. A great deal will depend on how these critical decisions will be approached and the choices that will be made. This debate is most needed because existing research on AVs tends to focus on how to make them a commercially viable and safe technological enterprise, and on what their benefits and drawbacks are regarding variables such as carbon emissions, energy consumption, and total miles travelled. Narratives of this nature can be problematic, as they are unlikely to promote sufficient awareness about the real disruptive potential of AVs. It is crucial that stakeholders realise the extent to which—if the governance of AVs implementation processes is not taken very seriously, and the identified critical decisions are not carefully approached—these machines can materialise a dystopian mobility future.

• Record URL:
  https://doi.org/10.3390/urbansci2010005
• Record URL:
  http://www.mdpi.com/2413-8851/2/1/5
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/24138851
• Supplemental Notes:
  • © 2018 Enrica Papa and António Ferreira.
• Authors:
  • Papa, Enrica
  • Ferreira, António
• Publication Date: 2018-3

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: References; Tables;
• Pagination: p 5
• Serial:
  • Urban Science
  • Volume: 2
  • Issue Number: 1
  • Publisher: MDPI AG
  • ISSN: 2413-8851
  • Serial URL: http://www.mdpi.com/journal/urbansci
• Publication flags:

  Open Access (libre)

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Accessibility; Autonomous vehicles; Decision making; Forecasting; Future; Implementation; Intelligent vehicles; Mobility; Social impacts; Sustainable transportation; Transportation planning; Transportation policy
• Subject Areas: Data and Information Technology; Highways; Planning and Forecasting; Policy; Society; Vehicles and Equipment;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01670661
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: May 29 2018 4:03PM