Successful driverless cars might lead to "mini mass transit," a distinct mode from public transit and the private automobile. The consequences for land use could reshape suburbia.
David Edmondson speculates on the effects of widespread driverless cars. He envisions a system of personal rapid transit by way of app-driven car sharing. "Open up an app on a phone, order a car, and a vehicle (possibly with others in it going to roughly where you're going) will drive by, pick you up, and drop you off near your destination. Along the way it'll pick up other people going in roughly the same direction as you, bolstering capacity of the personal car to a grand total of five. Five trips, one car. As one Twitter follower called it, it becomes mini-mass transit, but at the beck and call of an app and as flexible as it needs to be."
Significant changes to suburban transportation planning would follow. "Unlike streetcars, the whole street is a possible stop. Rather than a series of one-dimensional stops surrounded by a station area, there is a two-dimensional transportation corridor surrounded by a transportation area."
The article considers potential effects on land use, road design, and suburban density. In time, driverless car transit might shift the definition of "suburban." Edmondson writes, "With no parking lots, no wide roads, a street grid, and shops and homes clustered up against the sidewalk, [suburbia] sounds more like a town center. That's because this transportation cloud functions much more like the streetcars of the old days than personal cars of today."
FULL STORY: What do driverless cars mean for suburban planning?
The Mall Is Dead — Long Live the Mall
The American shopping mall may be closer to its original vision than ever.
Report: Las Vegas, Houston Top List of Least Affordable Cities
The report assesses the availability of affordable rental units for low-income households.
The Paradox of American Housing
How the tension between housing as an asset and as an essential good keeps the supply inadequate and costs high.
Anchorage Leaders Debate Zoning Reform Plan
Last year, the city produced the fewest new housing units in a decade.
How to Protect Pedestrians With Disabilities
Public agencies don’t track traffic deaths and injuries involving disabled people, leaving a gap in data to guide safety interventions.
Colorado Town Fills Workforce Housing Need With ‘Dorm-Style’ Housing
Median rent in Steamboat Springs is $4,000 per month.
City of Yakima
City of Auburn
Baylands Development Inc.
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Mpact Transit + Community
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
City of Birmingham, Alabama
City of Laramie, Wyoming
Colorado Department of Local Affairs
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.