How Autonomous Cars Can Induce Sprawl and Sabotage Climate Goals

The rise of autonomous cars could have numerous downstream effects, writes Jeral Poskey in an opinion piece in Smart Cities Dive.

Poskey points out several ways that robotaxis could be counterproductive to climate goals. First, robotaxis could induce more travel due to their visible upsides like convenience and the reduced financial burden. In the same vein, autonomous cars could encourage longer commutes, making people less averse to long commutes since they don’t have to drive themselves. Robotaxis also create more empty trips as cars circle around passenger-less, waiting for fares.

All told, with more frequent trips, longer commutes and more empty trips, a University of California-Berkeley study calculated robotaxis could increase total VMT by a whopping 83%, nearly double today’s levels.

An MIT study warned that these factors could lead to more sprawl as people find it easier to live farther from their jobs. “s destinations grow farther apart, more infrastructure, such as roads and parking, is needed. This, in turn, pushes destinations even farther apart, creating a spiral of sprawl that becomes self-perpetuating.”

Poskey advises that planners should think about how to build “better cities, not better cars.” Whether or not cars have human drivers, urban design and planning can guide development that is more sustainable and less car-dependent.