Commentary
Driverless Cars Could Worsen Traffic By Cruising Around Instead Of Parking
- by Chuck Martin , Staff Writer, February 3, 2019
Self-driving cars have been in the works for some time, although not all of the potential consequences have been fully uncovered.
Since a self-driving car technically wouldn’t require a driver to be in the car, the vehicle could operate on its own, which is where significant issues related to parking could occur.
Self-driving cars could drop off the driver and then continue cruising around to avoid paying sometimes high downtown parking fees, according to a study by the University of California, Santa Cruz.
"Parking prices are what get people out of their cars and on to public transit, but autonomous vehicles have no need to park at all,” states the study. “They can get around paying for parking by cruising. They will have every incentive to create havoc."
The paper, by Adam Millard-Ball, an associate professor of environmental studies at the University of California, suggests that in a best-case scenario, as few as 2,000 self-driving cars in downtown San Francisco would slow traffic to fewer than two miles per hour.
The research analyzed the combined impact of parking costs and self-driving cars on city centers, using game theory and a traffic micro-simulation model to generate the predictions.
"Even when you factor in electricity, depreciation, wear and tear and maintenance, cruising costs about 50 cents an hour, cheaper than parking even in a small town," states Millard-Ball. "Unless it's free or cheaper than cruising, why would anyone use a remote lot?”
A suggested potential solution would be to add congestion pricing, essentially a user fee to enter a city center, according to the paper.
Sometimes in the Internet of Things, there are major unintended consequences.
Chuck Martin is Editor of the AI & IoT Daily at MediaPost and writes the daily Connected Thinking column. He is a NY Times Business bestselling author and his latest book is “Digital Transformation 3.0” (The New Business-to-Consumer Connections of The Internet of Things.) He is CEO of Net Future Institute and a frequent keynote speaker internationally. Follow him on Twitter @chuckmartin and contact him at Chuck@MediaPost.com.
I would argue that permitting self-driving "dropoff" is a false premise, that is, self-driving cars could easily be programmed to operate only when carrying a human passenger. There could be no "dropping out off at work" because the car would then just deactivate on the spot and be towed away for a hefty fine. By making it illegal to operate an unoccupied smart vehicle, the benefits of self-driving would still accrue (the legal parking space thus becomes the dropoff point) but the imagined downside would be self-limiting.
For the future: It seems like a good practice, when reporting a piece of academic research, to include the name of the journal in which it was published, and a link to the paper's abstract online.
In this case, the paper was called "The autonomous vehicle parking problem," and was published in the journal Transport Policy.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tranpol.2019.01.003
Right, Douglas, this is likely to be a regulatory issue rather than a technical one.
Thanks, Stewart, the piece was very widely reported.
Hi Chuck,, I agree with almost everything you said... except you have that NYC state of mind... I live in Louisville KY and pay less that 3 bucks a day to park, so the cost of parking is a non starter... here is what we think about autonomous cars here at www.thautochannel.com..
https://www.theautochannel.com/news/2015/11/26/162527-autonomous-driving-may-kill-automobile-industry.html
Right, Bob, this study was focused exclusively on major city centers.
I thought the whole idea for Auto-tonomous cars was to free up the streets, save fuel, and be able to use facebook while driving.........wait, they already do that one.
Can't you send your car "home" and recall it to pick you up, just mom and dad did in high school before we got our license?
I will still stand on my claim of 6-7 years ago, Dumbest idea of the 21st Century.
Bob,
I agree completely about the urban mentality. The rest of the country is mobile, and wants to be in charge of their vehicle. Can you imagine taking the steering wheel and gas pedal from a Texan, with lots of room for Suburbans to roam? Never happen.
Auto makers are so out of touch and self absorbed just to say "we did it". We made a Ghost-Buster helmet, put it on a car and millions of bits of information require it to stay in place on the road. And why? to say we can, such a crock of crap.
Again I ask..................How much does it add to the cost of a car? I think they're afraid to say, because it will "kill their buzz' I say $17,000-22,000 per car. Which will make Uber the only customer. When you live in NYC and 30,000 people live on your corner, and parking places cost more than a house................that ain't livin' folks.
One more..............How's those batteries in the Tesla workin' out in the winter cold.....??
Not so good I hear.
https://electrek.co/2018/11/14/tesla-model-3-cold-weather-flaws/
Good points all, Mark. The recent realizations based on what I am hearing is that the current emphasis is shifting to enhancing the driver experience rather than replacing it.