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John Kwant: Cities are looking at several things to accommodate modes that help to increase carrying capacity of their infrastructure. One area would be what I call "re-imagining streetscapes," [which means] how to better manage and design roads, curbs, and sidewalks. Dedicated bike lanes, Bus Rapid transit lanes on roads—these are many of the tools cities have at their disposal to effect positive change.
The demographic pressure in cities is causing more traffic congestion and impacting people's quality of life. As population growth continues to soar in metropolitan areas, what priorities should be at the top of city and statewide agendas to overcome these challenges?
We have to figure out how to get more carrying capacity out of the existing system, and it's not going to happen by adding highways alone. By looking at each city as its own transportation ecosystem and helping to better manage both the supply and demand sides of the equation through connected modes and consumers, we think it's possible.
There are roughly four times more parking spaces than cars in the United States. Cities devote 50% to 60% of their space to cars and parking. What can we stand to gain from getting rid of excess parking spots?
Curb side parking is a luxury if you think about it. It shuts down a whole lane of carrying capacity and isn't necessarily thoroughly monetized. When autonomous vehicles are introduced to urban settings, you will likely need even fewer parking spaces, but curb space will become valuable, just like it is today, for pick-up and drop-off.
The suburban sprawl of the 1980s had made many Americans car-dependent. Single occupant car journeys are still the norm in most cities. How do we incentivize drivers to adopt ride-sharing solutions?
This is a difficult problem. If we are to get increased carrying capacity out of our existing systems, we certainly have to find ways to encourage commuters to shift to ride charging modes. One way to do that is to provide incentives and to also make shared mode environments acceptable in a way not yet offered or imagined. As an example, would someone be more willing to use a shuttle service if they had a guaranteed comfortable seat, wi-fi connectivity, and charging ports for their electronic devices—and be driven to work to use that time either personally or more productively? We think they would, it's just that these services aren't yet offered in many places. We still have legacy models out there.
You are launching a fully autonomous vehicle in 2021. What are the major challenges cities will face to accommodate driverless cars?
There is significant opportunity that comes with integration of autonomous vehicles into cities to help alleviate traffic congestion and serve people in more accessible and affordable ways. As mentioned, cities need to think about their transportation ecosystem and begin to plan for how autonomous vehicles can best fit in through mobility services such as ride sharing, ride hailing, or package delivery fleets to meet the needs of their residents and solve some of the challenges that they face in getting around. So, through research and analysis of their own transportation data, cities can help pinpoint the mobility pain points where autonomous vehicles could help.
Another area to consider is the interaction of autonomous vehicles with emergency response vehicles. Cities should ensure that there are standardized communications protocols between their own emergency fleets (police, fire, ambulance, etc.) and the autonomous vehicles on the road. For instance, emergency vehicles could communicate their current location and destination information to an autonomous vehicle fleet, so the self-driving vehicles will reroute to avoid interaction with emergency vehicles.Follow Alexis Chemblette on Twitter.
