Unlocking the potential for autonomous mobility in cities

Autonomous vehicles, also known as self-driving vehicles, are advancing with technology in a high speed. They have the potential to change our urban mobility and landscape. Research results indicate that an overall adjustment of SDVs and “robo-taxis” (self-driving taxis) on our streets could lead to 60% less cars on city streets, 80% less tailpipe emissions and 90% fewer road accidents [1]. Some European cities have realised the potential benefits of SDVs and therefore greenlighted the proper infrastructure for implementation.

Trend: Cities embrace autonomous vehicles

Decision makers throughout Europe are already focusing their attention on autonomous transportation and on understanding its potential impact. It is their high priority to reduce air pollution from emissions, minimize the congestion and improve the traffic efficiency.

In terms of traffic efficiency, one of the main challenges for many cities is to provide safe and affordable mobility for all city residents regardless their socio-economical-demographic backgrounds. Some of the typical measures being adopted are for instance awareness campaigns for safety or improved infrastructure. With the upcoming of SDVs, many hope to experience a future of urban mobility that not only brings the maximum effective road safety but also the fastest accessibility to all means of transportations.

According to Boston Consulting Group (BCG), an international platform for analysis and consulting that interviewed related officials in the transportation section:

Most of the city officials spoke of plans to dedicate more road space to walking, cycling, and public transportation, for example, and to encourage new mobility models, such as car sharing, e-mobility, and bike sharing.[1]

The majority of the urban policymakers interviewed by the BCG believe that by 2025, at least one city will have banned traditional car-ownership, given the emerging trend of shared-autonomous-mobility models.

Advantages of autonomous vehicles

Many city planners are convinced that SDVs can offer a tailor-made solution for the last miles, namely for those inhabitants who live in less densely populated areas. SDVs would have the potentials to bring these inhabitants to the next large traffic connection. The benefits of a driverless future encompass more aspects than just that. Below are some of them:

• Less fuel consumption: Autonomous vehicles are software on wheels which optimizes the fuel consumption as efficient as possible. In that way, the new-age cars are expected to reduce emissions.
• Healthier environment: Less emission led by less traffic may improve our health during the driving process. Some research has shown that the:

Traffic jams can cause a rise in blood pressure, depression and anxiety, as well as a decrease in cardiovascular fitness and quality sleep.[3]

• Personalized commute: SDVs can bring a passenger to the next transit hubs on the fastest way, provided that the SDVs are conceptualized as a tool to improve the existing public transportation and not as a replacement of it.
• Free-up space: In most cities, designated parking takes away a huge amount of land, which stays empty the most time of the day. Therefore, fewer cars in the city mean more flexibility for urban planning to create space for social interaction among people such as parks or open community places.
• Reduction of accidents: Since 90% of traffic accidents can be attributed to human error and some 40% of these accidents can be traced to the abuse of drugs and or alcohol, self-driving cars would eliminate those accidents.
• New fields for job opportunities: On the one hand, the upcoming of SDVs can lead to job losses for taxi drivers or less use of shared mobility such as Uber service. On the other hand, the demand for other jobs such as hi-tech experts, software developers or network engineers will surely increase.

Cities with concrete adaptions

Sweden’s government has launched “Drive Sweden” a strategic innovation program that brings together players from all sectors of society associated with mobility and transport. Its aim is to develop a new approach to mobility that included automated transportation system. Sweden’s government even modified the legislation, to the favour of testing SDVs.

In January 2018, the first driverless buses in the Nordic countries appeared on public roads. It was a pilot project funded by Drive Sweden with the cooperation forces such as Ericsson, Swedish Railways, KTH Royal Institute of Technology and the city of Stockholm. The undertaking involves two buses with each of them carrying 11 passengers. It aims to improve accessibility and offers short-distanced, door-to-door travel.

Catharina Elmsäter-Svärd, the chairperson of Drive Sweden describes the“Swedish model” of getting things done:

This is the typical Swedish model that allows us to work together broadly like this – around issues of legislation, and around testing and getting things started.[4]

Another leading country in Europe with a high ambition to implement SDVs on the streets are the Netherlands. Their Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment (I&M) has given the go-ahead for large-scale tests with self-driving passenger cars and trucks. These tests will also be closely observed and evaluated.

Furthermore, the Information and Technology Centre for Transport and Infrastructure (CROW) have set up a task force of road management authorities. And traffic safety experts from institutions such as the Institute for Road Safety Research (SWOV) help to evaluate this new form of mobility.[5]

Apart from that, the Netherlands are currently the country with the most electric charging stations, as there are 10 per 100 km, a clear-cut winner in this field. [6]

In a supportive legislative environment like this, Amber – the Dutch Start-Up for self-driving cars – has successfully established partnerships with the local governments. The cities of Eindhoven and Helmond have already offered urban areas to Amber for testing SDVs.

Challenges for policymakers

Despite the overall acceptance for the SDVs among the urban policymakers, there are still some concerns about the concept based on SDVs which explains why so far only few cities have taken concrete steps to integrate SDVs into their mobility plans.

• Most cities do not try to outlaw cars rather try to provide equality in terms of convenience for all kinds of transport modes, such as cycling and public transport. Some cities believe robo-taxis can solve the last-mile problem, for example, for residents in suburb areas with a less connected transport possibility. However, at the same time, there is concern that SDVs could become a first-choice mode of transportation for the entire commute. Following this trend, the existing public-transportation could suffer from low use and become less and less important – an unfavourable impact for cities with large and costly public-transportation.
• On the one hand the ideal urban mobility should serve all kinds of residents with affordable prices. On the other hand, many cities need the revenues from vehicle-related fees such as fuel taxes, or parking tickets and other charges. SDVs will not be able to generate the same amount revenues as the fuel vehicles. As a consequence, the revenues for the city could be at risk. Unless the local governments find other ways to generate revenues from the related infrastructure, such as from charging stations.
• Probably the most relevant question of deploying SDVs in cities is who is going to finance for the extensive infrastructure in order to make SDV transportation becoming reality for the society? In a research cooperation with the World Economic Forum, BCG states in a report that:
  

  To equip a city of 10 million inhabitants with intelligent traffic management systems, the required infrastructure investment could be as much as $5 billion.[1]

  This extensive infrastructure does not only include physical change in the urban landscape but also a reformation of virtual and digital technology. Digital tools have already changed our way to access knowledge and information and, they become influential towards our activities in urban spaces as well.

  Accordingly, to transform urban mobility towards a future with autonomous vehicles, it requires cooperation between the government, private sectors and consumers. Since it is unlikely for the policymakers to follow up the fast-advancing technology, the private sector will have to take over the lead in actual development. Between the governments and consumers, consensus on taxation models need to be reached. For the government itself, a new funding system needs to be designed to grant an advance on the infrastructure.

• As mentioned above, the process of advancing digitalization has become unceasing in our life. New technologies dominate the automobile market. Nowadays, smart cars collect data on heir passengers, the environment and consumer’s mobility. This trend inevitably raises the question of who supposes to own the gigantic volume of data. The protection of privacy and data ownership are an important issue. For now, it seems, this concern has not yet taken up to the public on a visible level.

Despite the challenges outlined above, there is consensus among the players from all sectors about the enormous potentials of SDVs in urban transportation system. As the technology will develop further, it is exciting to see how the multiple stakeholders and especially the policymakers will approach the new age of automobile.

References

[1] Lang N., Rüßmann M., Mei-Pochtler A., Dauner, T., Komiya S., Mosquet X. (2016). ‘Self-Driving Vehicles, Robo-Taxis, and the Urban Mobility Revolution.’ [online] BCG. Available at: https://www.bcg.com/de-at/publications/2016/automotive-public-sector-self-driving-vehicles-robo-taxis-urban-mobility-revolution.aspx
[2] https://magical-planet.com/10-major-cities-that-planning-to-go-car-free/2/
[3] https://futurism.com/images/7-benefits-of-driverless-cars/
[4] https://www.drivesweden.net/en/news/nordic-premiere-self-driving-buses
[5] https://www.government.nl/topics/mobility-public-transport-and-road-safety/self-driving-vehicles
[6] https://www.iamexpat.nl/expat-info/dutch-expat-news/most-prepared-country-globally-self-driving-vehicles-netherlands

Keywords

SDV, self-driving vehicle, data ownership, BCG, World Economic Forum, taxation, robo-taxi, autonomous vehicle, Ericsson, Drive Sweden, MaaS, Amber, automated transportation, data ownership, taxation