Apeless Carriage - A Hitchhiker's guide to Driverless Vehicles

The Road We Are On Driverless cars. Autonomous vehicles. This new era of mobility and its implementation by our largest corporations appears imminent. What are the urban planners to do? Looking at the tech alone there might be little we can do. Driverless vehicles represent one of the greatest technological challenges ever undertaken, and only automotive and technology companies possess the deep pockets (and lines of credit) necessary to develop it. It is a project that no government organization (outside the military) has the budget to undertake and too complex for any regulatory agency to effectively manage. But it is happening nonetheless. And why not let them build it for us? Driverless solutions are an attractive prospect for cash strapped governments already struggling with ageing infrastructure and increased travel demand.  However, the mobility systems developed by private corporations will give them great leverage in the transportation sector.  Ultimately the...

The Blue Line The Driverless Road Planning for the driverless road Structure 1 The challenge It's the road stupid You think congestion is bad now Where has all the money gone? 2 A modest proposal Design guidelines 3 Why act now(summary) Its about the Road 4 Blue lanes in seattle Notes from an earlier revolution And one even earlier And before that Case Studies Why Blue? Intro to me and my vision For Multiple routes-intermittent usage.  Designated routes should have flexible timetables( think bike route during the day, deliveries at night, pedestrian mall/pop-up market on the weekends) Vehicle signaling.  No need for fixed signaling, av's used to announce oncoming traffic with projectors, flashing lights, and sounds(preferably music) Also, municipal governments must create a carrot and stick in order to do you effectively with mobility providers. Since you just woke government cannot Control the operation ...

A Shape of Things To Come The potential that autonomous vehicles (AVs) represent for disruptive and beneficial change calls for increased study and evaluation. Because of the speed at which relevant technologies are developing the time has come to look beyond short term impacts on safety, travel time reduction, accessibility and parking. History suggests that the present focus of debates over driverless vehicles-- liability, security, and popular acceptance -- are likely to be transitory. The significance of a mature autonomous transportation system will take longer to develop, but will have a profound impact on our social, economic, and built environments. This study examines the potential for driverless vehicles to address travel demand generated by activities not usually associated with single-occupancy vehicles. The focus is on the potential for small, lightweight, automated vehicles (LAV’s) to perform transportation duties that are presently accomplished by la...