Self Driving Cars &

Street Infrastructure
Will it work or not? And why?

Shriram Lele, MCRP’17

Urban Ecological Design
Introduction
Transportation has become the most important aspect for
growing cities and it is changing patterns rapidly. Till date,
we have seen people driving vehicles but now, with
Google’s Self- driving cars human drivers will not be
necessary.
▪ This sounds exciting, but what are the future
Source: Volvo, https://www.digitaltrends.com/cars/self-driving-car-moral-decisions/
implications of this drastic change? Will everyone
accept this way of transportation?
▪ What are the impact areas?
▪ What are the effects on society in urban and rural
areas?
▪ Safety on the streets?
▪ Why do people want this change so badly?
▪ Decision making & humanity- AI Vs. Human Intelligence Source: Shutterstock, http://www.acsh.org/news/2017/05/02/75-us-motorists-
fear-self-driving-cars-11223
Problems Today “Today, cars are people’s
second-largest household
Increased urbanization, global warming, increasing congestion & highway fatality rates, expenditure, and they sit
unused 20+ hours a day.
electrification, connected cars, adoption of ride sharing and constant connectivity, all
When they’re on the road, a
contribute to the increased potential for disruption of the current automotive model. vast proportion of them are
• The world population owns too many cars, approximately 1.2 billion vehicles globally. If looking for parking—wasting
time, worsening congestion,
current trends hold the number of vehicles goes up to 2 billion by 2040
and adding to vehicle-miles
• Traffic congestion causes waste of time, delays, wasted fuel, increased pollution. Traffic traveled.
congestions cause people 5.7 billion person-hours of delay annually in the US. They
If someone described that
model to you and didn’t tell
also increase road rage, and consequently the potential for accidents. The health you it was cars, you’d say it
effects of stress are also significant was ripe for disruption.”
• Health issues- Breathing street-level fumes for just 30 minutes can intensify stress. Source: http://www.wired.com/2016/01/the-metastructure-
transportation/

Children are at greater risk and more vulnerable to the harmful effects of pollution
• Saving space- Roads and parking take up valuable real estate. Instead of parking, these
spaces can be utilized for essential necessities like housing, parks and playgrounds
• Time and fuel spent- due to too many cars that cause traffic congestions people loose a
lot of time driving which can be used productively. Similarly, more fuel is consumed
during traffic jams.
Are self driving cars the solution?
What are self driving cars?
Vehicles that are able to guide themselves from an origin
point to a destination point desired by the individual

Types: Autonomous and Connected cars

Autonomous Cars: These are used to make autonomous decisions on

what is best for the individual driver, not shared with other entities
beyond the vehicle and have a capitalistic approach

Connected Cars: These are wirelessly connected to an external

communications network, share information with surrounding
vehicles and have a socialistic approach

How do these new type of vehicles are beneficial?

▪ Reduced Congestion
▪ Reduced Emission
▪ Space freed: No need for parking
▪ Disabled, elderly, and children are more mobile and safe
▪ Prices of cars will lower
▪ No Drunk Driving and accidents
▪ Less cars needed: Reduced ecological impact.
Impact areas
The primary impact areas from a planner’s
perspective include:

• Street infrastructure
• Changes in land use patterns
• Energy and environment
• Managing sprawl?
• Public transit?
• Safety and walkability?
• Loss of employment opportunities?
• Regulatory changes?
• Parking

Source: A presentation by Gerry Tierney suggests a new future for 40th Avenue in San Francisco
Future implications
Self driving cars can reduce the cost of transport drastically, offer
greater possibilities for sharing and allow for innovation and might
have a promising future in coming years but that will surely bring in
many implications in different areas:

▪ Infrastructure:
▪ More complex travel patterns
▪ Increase in long distance commutes
▪ Land for transportation? How Much?
▪ Energy and environmental concerns
▪ Changes in mobile processing platforms
▪ What happens to vehicle insurance industry?

Changes in street Design & Parking Lots:

▪ A new set of road standards will be needed to ensure that street
materials and markings are optimized for the new vehicles.
▪ Changes in pavement materials, street signage and paints used
on streets
▪ New modified responsive speed limits
▪ Vehicles to Infrastructure communications changes
▪ Training human drivers to ‘behave’ with self driving cars?
▪ Decreased space requirements (Street & Parking) - Empty real
estates?
Source: A presentation by Gerry Tierney suggests a new future for 40th Avenue in San Francisco
Land Use Changes:
▪ Impacts on community/regional planning and urban design
▪ as human efforts in driving get eliminated, we can expect:
▪ Live and work places move farther away
▪ Access to more desirable and higher paying jobs
▪ Attend better school/college
▪ Visit destinations farther away
▪ Access more desirable destinations for various activities
▪ Reduced impact of distances and time on activity
▪ Influence on developers
▪ Sprawled cities?

Impacts on vehicles/ Household:

▪ Potential to redefine vehicle ownership

▪ No longer own personal vehicles; Inclination towards car sharing
▪ Efficient vehicle ownership/ sharing will probably reduce the
▪ need for additional infrastructure
▪ More use personal vehicle for long distance travel
▪ Change in vehicle types? More multi- purpose vehicle
ownerships?
Source: http://stlouis.uli.org/event/future-land-use-region-driverless-cars/ and
A plan from San Francisco for how automated vehicles can start to reclaim the land used for driving
and parking cars SFMTA
Shifts in transportation mode choices?

Automated vehicles combine the advantages of public

transportation with that of traditional private vehicles as they offer:
▪ Flexibility
▪ Comfort
▪ Convenience
▪ Driving personal vehicle more convenient and safe
▪ Finding parking space no longer onerous
▪ Traditional transit captive market segments now able to use auto
(e.g., elderly, disabled)
▪ Reduced reliance/usage of public transit?
So, people might drift away from public transit systems.
But,
There can also be some positive impacts on public transit systems like:
▪ Reliable transit service
▪ Lower cost of operation (driverless)
▪ More personalized service - smaller vehicles providing demand
responsive transit service
▪ Changes in investments for high speed rail and other systems
▪ Enhanced efficiency of Commercial Vehicles?
▪ Driverless vehicles operating during off-peak and night hours
▪ reducing congestion and need for infrastructure
More things to think about?

▪ Uncertainty in technology development time

▪ Will automated vehicles completely replace individual-driven

vehicles?

▪ Need for mixed vehicle operations would require considerable

amount of time

▪ Infrastructure that accommodates both manual and

automated vehicles

▪ Intelligent infrastructure with dedicated lanes for driverless

cars
Overview of key
benefits
The People:
Children: Over-scheduled parents will get their lives back as their kids share
rides with parent-approved friends, and parents organize driverless vanpools
for sports teams.
Teenagers: Texting while driving will disappear as the leading cause of death
for teenagers as will all reckless driving due to impaired judgment and driving
under the influence.
Adults: Safely use phones, laptops, and tablets. Some will get a jump-start on
the work day, others will socialize or enjoy a video.
Elderly: No longer dependent on driving, aging will have little to no effect on
transportation
and independence.
Disabled: Enjoy improved mobility with on-call, door-to-door service in
specialized vehicles.
Working Poor: Greater access to higher paying jobs with inexpensive, reliable
transportation. Higher quality of life and time savings not having to rely on
buses and other mass transit.
Overview of key
benefits
Cities: Parking garages are turned into city parks, housing
or other needed space.
Mass Transit: Driverless cars will provide better transit
service than local buses for a fraction of the cost.
Highways: The national average ratio of 1.08 commuters
per vehicle will increase and highway congestion
declines as vehicles are able to pool together at
higher speeds.
Environment: Unless gasoline drops below about 60 cents
a gallon, autonomous cars will be electric. Decreased
burning of oil and increased use of solar combined
with newer low-emissions natural gas generators will
significantly slow climate change.
 ■ Self driving cars are definitely the
future of transportation
■ But, this will have impacts like
loss of employment, technical
difficulties and many more
■ Most importantly, the decision
making factor of humans vs
artificial intelligence is a crucial
area
■ Humanly decisions vs artificial
machine decisions might cause
some serious issues
■ Also, infrastructural changes like
increased charging stations,
traffic issues when one of the
vehicle collapses on the street

Thoughts
are possible drawbacks.
References
Grabar, H. (2016, October 25). Will Everyone Own an Autonomous Car, or Will We Share Them? Retrieved August 04, 2017, from
http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/future_tense/2016/10/self_driving_cars_effects_on_cities_depend_on_who_owns_them.html

Wayner, P. (2015, August 05). How Driverless Cars Could Turn Parking Lots into City Parks. Retrieved August 04, 2017, from
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2015/08/driverless-cars-robot-cabs-parking-traffic/400526/

Lin, A. N. (2017, June 03). Self-Driving Cars Wont Work Until We Change Our Roads-And Attitudes. Retrieved August 04, 2017, from
https://www.wired.com/2016/03/self-driving-cars-wont-work-change-roads-attitudes/

Richardson, R., May, C., IV, L. K., Glassman, M., Tesfaye, S., Marcotte, A., . . . Joseph, A. (n.d.). Self-driving cars vs. American roads: Will
infrastructure speed bumps slow down the future of transportation? Retrieved August 04, 2017, from
http://www.salon.com/2017/04/20/self-driving-cars-vs-crummy-american-roads-will-infrastructure-speed-bumps-slow-down-the-future-of-
transportation/

75% of US Motorists Fear Self-Driving Cars. (n.d.). Retrieved August 04, 2017, from http://www.acsh.org/news/2017/05/02/75-us-
motorists-fear-self-driving-cars-11223

Weinberger, D. (2016, July 01). Should your self-driving car kill you to save a school bus full of kids? Retrieved August 04, 2017, from
https://www.digitaltrends.com/cars/self-driving-car-moral-decisions/
References
Silver, C. (2016, June 28). As Self-Driving Cars Change Transportation, How Will Infrastructure Adapt? Retrieved August 04, 2017, from
https://www.forbes.com/sites/curtissilver/2016/06/28/as-self-driving-cars-change-transportation-infrastructure/#99f5c1b2664a

Sisson, P. (2016, February 25). How Driverless Cars Can Reshape Our Cities. Retrieved August 04, 2017, from
https://www.curbed.com/2016/2/25/11114222/how-driverless-cars-can-reshape-our-cities