Traffic

The simple act of driving a car can be incredibly frustrating. You’re stuck in traffic, you’re constantly on the lookout for reckless drivers, phone-distracted pedestrians or roadwork that has reduced lanes. And then there’s the anxiety of parking. The good news is that all this will soon be a thing of the past, because self-driving vehicles will eliminate most traffic frustrations.

Self-driving vehicles are smart cars that are capable of communicating with each other and the surrounding environment—like traffic lights and bridges—to improve safety and efficiency. Self-driving cars can drive much closer together than human drivers can because they don’t need to leave room for reaction times; they perfectly coordinate with each other to ensure safe distances between vehicles. They also communicate with the infrastructure around them to avoid accidents and reduce congestion by finding optimal routes based on up-to-the second traffic conditions provided through real time communication with fellow autonomous cars.

This new technology will not only make your journey safer but it will also dramatically reduce congestion as more self-driving cars join city streets across America and around the world!

Car ownership

While the future of transportation is on the horizon, many people still use a car for their daily commutes. However, that’s projected to change as self-driving cars become more and more common. The average vehicle is used less than five percent of the time, meaning that most Americans are paying thousands of dollars a year to store their cars. Most people only need their cars to go to work or run small errands like grocery shopping. In our research we found that the average car in America is used only four percent of the time—the rest it sits parked somewhere. With self-driving vehicles on demand, there would be no need for this wasted space. You could request a vehicle whenever you needed one and then not have to worry about it until you needed it again.

Parking

Once you think about it, parking is everywhere: in the form of parking lots, parking garages, parking meters, parking tickets and even dedicated parking spaces. Many cars are equipped with sensors that help you park better and avoid hitting nearby objects.

Parking is an essential part of driving because most people don’t ride their cars 24/7. Welcome to a world without self-driving vehicles: every car needs a spot to park. This can be as simple as a driveway in front of your house or as complex as a multi-storey garage packed with hundreds of vehicles.

In urban areas, this leads to streets clogged with parked cars, which means less space for everything else: pedestrians, bikers and transit riders. In some cities — such as Vancouver — the ratio between street space and area for vehicles is nearly 4:1! To top it off, most free street-level spots fill up quickly during peak hours (in Montreal we call these traffic “hot zones”).

As you can imagine, all this competition for free spots leads to many conflicts between drivers (often leading to road rage). Things get worse when vehicles are left unattended for long periods of time on busy roads or when parked illegally (such as double-parking). As a result many cities have dedicated staff who spend their days ticketing offenders — not the best use of tax dollars if you ask me!

Public transportation

• Reduced pollution
• Increased public transportation efficiency
• Reduced need for public transportation
• Reduced need for parking
• Reduced traffic congestion
• Reduces accidents

City planning

_Imagine a future in which your commute to work is spent reading the news or catching up on emails instead of fighting traffic. Imagine a place where cars are no longer parked along the street, taking up precious space better used for pedestrians and cyclists. Picture an urban center that’s both safe and beautiful—with lakes and parks dotting the skyline, tall buildings butting up against breathtaking green spaces. These changes may seem impossible today._

_Self-driving vehicles will make them possible, by allowing us to rethink the way we plan cities. Self-driving vehicles don’t need doors, driver controls or side mirrors because they drive themselves. They’ll move at a slower speed than traditional cars and will drive in close packs—which means parking spots aren’t necessary either. And since traffic will be better regulated and accidents less likely, drivers won’t need large buffers between lanes or between themselves and other drivers._

With self-driving vehicles on the horizon, city planners everywhere can stop thinking about how to accommodate individual car owners—and start thinking about ways to create more efficient and livable cities. In these places of tomorrow, roads could transform into shared spaces that incorporate self-driving shuttles alongside pedestrians, bikers and scooter riders; parking ramps could become housing towers; underground lots could become parks or community gardens; throughways could open into pedestrian walkways big enough for farmers markets or pop-up shops; cul de sacs could become piazzas where people gather for picnics or music festivals.

Self-driving vehicles will change our cities for the better.

The self-driving vehicle revolution is about to change the way you live in ways that seem unimaginable, and yet it will happen in the not-so-distant future. Here are six reasons why self-driving cars are going to make our cities better places to live:

• Imagine being able to work or relax while a self-driving car takes you anywhere you want. You might even be able to read a book or work on your novel. Your commute is no longer wasted time, and that’s just the beginning…
• You might not need to own a car because it will be easy—and much cheaper—to access one whenever you need it. That’s good for both your wallet AND the environment!
• With fewer cars on the road and greater efficiency due to communication among vehicles, your commute time could be cut in half. How great is that? And with so much newfound free time, maybe you can start learning Mandarin!
• Cities will be designed around people instead of cars. Have you ever peered through an apartment window high above a city street and wondered what life would like if all those parking lots were parks? That kind of greenery isn’t such a farfetched idea when there are fewer personal cars clogging up our streets.
• Self-driving vehicles will drastically reduce traffic fatalities with their advanced safety features. In fact, they’re projected to stop 90% of all accidents that result from human error (like driving drunk), which would save 3,000 lives today alone!

Traffic

The simple act of driving a car can be incredibly frustrating. You’re stuck in traffic, you’re constantly on the lookout for reckless drivers, phone-distracted pedestrians or roadwork that has reduced lanes. And then there’s the anxiety of parking. The good news is that all this will soon be a thing of the past, because self-driving vehicles will eliminate most traffic frustrations.

Self-driving vehicles are smart cars that are capable of communicating with each other and the surrounding environment—like traffic lights and bridges—to improve safety and efficiency. Self-driving cars can drive much closer together than human drivers can because they don’t need to leave room for reaction times; they perfectly coordinate with each other to ensure safe distances between vehicles. They also communicate with the infrastructure around them to avoid accidents and reduce congestion by finding optimal routes based on up-to-the second traffic conditions provided through real time communication with fellow autonomous cars.

This new technology will not only make your journey safer but it will also dramatically reduce congestion as more self-driving cars join city streets across America and around the world!

Car ownership

While the future of transportation is on the horizon, many people still use a car for their daily commutes. However, that’s projected to change as self-driving cars become more and more common. The average vehicle is used less than five percent of the time, meaning that most Americans are paying thousands of dollars a year to store their cars. Most people only need their cars to go to work or run small errands like grocery shopping. In our research we found that the average car in America is used only four percent of the time—the rest it sits parked somewhere. With self-driving vehicles on demand, there would be no need for this wasted space. You could request a vehicle whenever you needed one and then not have to worry about it until you needed it again.

Parking

Once you think about it, parking is everywhere: in the form of parking lots, parking garages, parking meters, parking tickets and even dedicated parking spaces. Many cars are equipped with sensors that help you park better and avoid hitting nearby objects.

Parking is an essential part of driving because most people don’t ride their cars 24/7. Welcome to a world without self-driving vehicles: every car needs a spot to park. This can be as simple as a driveway in front of your house or as complex as a multi-storey garage packed with hundreds of vehicles.

In urban areas, this leads to streets clogged with parked cars, which means less space for everything else: pedestrians, bikers and transit riders. In some cities — such as Vancouver — the ratio between street space and area for vehicles is nearly 4:1! To top it off, most free street-level spots fill up quickly during peak hours (in Montreal we call these traffic “hot zones”).

As you can imagine, all this competition for free spots leads to many conflicts between drivers (often leading to road rage). Things get worse when vehicles are left unattended for long periods of time on busy roads or when parked illegally (such as double-parking). As a result many cities have dedicated staff who spend their days ticketing offenders — not the best use of tax dollars if you ask me!

Public transportation

Reduced pollution

Increased public transportation efficiency

Reduced need for public transportation

Reduced need for parking

Reduced traffic congestion

Reduces accidents

City planning

_Imagine a future in which your commute to work is spent reading the news or catching up on emails instead of fighting traffic. Imagine a place where cars are no longer parked along the street, taking up precious space better used for pedestrians and cyclists. Picture an urban center that’s both safe and beautiful—with lakes and parks dotting the skyline, tall buildings butting up against breathtaking green spaces. These changes may seem impossible today._

_Self-driving vehicles will make them possible, by allowing us to rethink the way we plan cities. Self-driving vehicles don’t need doors, driver controls or side mirrors because they drive themselves. They’ll move at a slower speed than traditional cars and will drive in close packs—which means parking spots aren’t necessary either. And since traffic will be better regulated and accidents less likely, drivers won’t need large buffers between lanes or between themselves and other drivers._

With self-driving vehicles on the horizon, city planners everywhere can stop thinking about how to accommodate individual car owners—and start thinking about ways to create more efficient and livable cities. In these places of tomorrow, roads could transform into shared spaces that incorporate self-driving shuttles alongside pedestrians, bikers and scooter riders; parking ramps could become housing towers; underground lots could become parks or community gardens; throughways could open into pedestrian walkways big enough for farmers markets or pop-up shops; cul de sacs could become piazzas where people gather for picnics or music festivals.

Self-driving vehicles will change our cities for the better.

The self-driving vehicle revolution is about to change the way you live in ways that seem unimaginable, and yet it will happen in the not-so-distant future. Here are six reasons why self-driving cars are going to make our cities better places to live:

Imagine being able to work or relax while a self-driving car takes you anywhere you want. You might even be able to read a book or work on your novel. Your commute is no longer wasted time, and that’s just the beginning…

You might not need to own a car because it will be easy—and much cheaper—to access one whenever you need it. That’s good for both your wallet AND the environment!

With fewer cars on the road and greater efficiency due to communication among vehicles, your commute time could be cut in half. How great is that? And with so much newfound free time, maybe you can start learning Mandarin!

Cities will be designed around people instead of cars. Have you ever peered through an apartment window high above a city street and wondered what life would like if all those parking lots were parks? That kind of greenery isn’t such a farfetched idea when there are fewer personal cars clogging up our streets.

Self-driving vehicles will drastically reduce traffic fatalities with their advanced safety features. In fact, they’re projected to stop 90% of all accidents that result from human error (like driving drunk), which would save 3,000 lives today alone!