1) at worst, reducing, at best, eliminating, the headway between vehicles that’s needed to allow human drivers to react (@shminux’s “zooming in all directions”)
2) in busy times and locations, aggregate multiple journeys into multiple-occupancy vehicles running ad-hoc routes. (I think that’s what the OECD “shared mobility liveable cities” study is proposing; UberPool is similar; Citymapper’s “smart buses” are similar (though all with human drivers))
Whether or not you get multiple-occupancy vehicles depends on market economics and not what a city planner who wants low traffic desires.
Poor people might go for multiple-occupancy vehicles but I would expect that richer people do want to get faster to their destination.
Getting faster to the destination however isn’t the only thing worth consuming. You also want to spend the time in the vehicle well.
It might be that a smart startup figures out how to have multiple-occupancy vehicles that provide a desirable experience of social interaction between the passengers but in the absence of that you can do a lot more for the experience in custom designed vehicles.
You might get a new haircut on your way to work, exercise in a driving gym, get a massage, take a shower or engage in a variety of different experiences that are enabled by specialized vehicles.
The more specialized vehicles you have, the more often you will have vehicles that drive empty to their destination.
Autonomy can allow for higher density by:
1) at worst, reducing, at best, eliminating, the headway between vehicles that’s needed to allow human drivers to react (@shminux’s “zooming in all directions”)
2) in busy times and locations, aggregate multiple journeys into multiple-occupancy vehicles running ad-hoc routes. (I think that’s what the OECD “shared mobility liveable cities” study is proposing; UberPool is similar; Citymapper’s “smart buses” are similar (though all with human drivers))
Whether or not you get multiple-occupancy vehicles depends on market economics and not what a city planner who wants low traffic desires.
Poor people might go for multiple-occupancy vehicles but I would expect that richer people do want to get faster to their destination.
Getting faster to the destination however isn’t the only thing worth consuming. You also want to spend the time in the vehicle well.
It might be that a smart startup figures out how to have multiple-occupancy vehicles that provide a desirable experience of social interaction between the passengers but in the absence of that you can do a lot more for the experience in custom designed vehicles.
You might get a new haircut on your way to work, exercise in a driving gym, get a massage, take a shower or engage in a variety of different experiences that are enabled by specialized vehicles.
The more specialized vehicles you have, the more often you will have vehicles that drive empty to their destination.