How Transit Agencies Can Plan for Driverless Cars Lauren Isaac WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff, Manager of Sustainable Transportation San Francisco, California
Driverless Vehicle Definition NHTSA defines “Full Self-Driving Automation” as: “designed to perform all safety-critical driving functions and monitor roadway conditions for an entire trip. Such a design anticipates that the driver will provide destination or navigation input, but is not expected to be available for control at any time during the trip.”
The Race to Driverless
The Race to Driverless Source: Morgan Stanley
Driverless Vehicles Today
Imagine….
Scenario 1…
Scenario 2…
Potential Future Scenarios
Scenarios Comparison Driverless Nightmare Driverless Utopia Safety VMT GHG Emissions Urban Sprawl Parking Req’ts No Change Roadway Maintenance Low Income Mobility
The Potential for Transit…
Improved Safety…
Reduced Car Ownership… What if this… …increasingly became this
First/last mile solutions And more… First/last mile solutions More seamless integration with other transportation modes More cost-effective paratransit Decreased labor costs More data available to support planning
But…
There’s New Competition…
Inflexible Policies/Plans And other challenges… Willingness to Change Workforce Skillset Inflexible Policies/Plans Adoption Speed Pricing Labor Unions
What can transit agencies do today? Incorporate into strategic/long-range plans Update policies to be more flexible Build awareness: educate staff Establish partnerships with private sector Support advancement (testing) of technology
Key Presentation Take-Aways Driverless vehicles are coming soon! Transit service today will not compete with what’s coming Transit agencies have many opportunities to leverage the driverless technology Barriers exist to take advantage of these opportunities
Contact Lauren Isaac Email: isaac@pbworld.com Phone: 415-815-8200 Guide: Driving Towards Driverless: A Guide for Government Agencies Blog: www.drivingtowardsdriverless.com Twitter: @DriverlessLau