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Stingy driverless cars will clog future streets instead of parking
It's a nightmarish vision of San Francisco's future, like something out of science fiction: streets full of driverless cars, crawling along implacably but at a snail's pace, snarling traffic and bringing the city to a standstill from the iconic Ferry Building to Union Square.
But according to Adam Millard-Ball, associate professor of environmental studies at the University of California, Santa Cruz, this scenario could come to pass simply as a result of rational behavior on the part of autonomous vehicle owners. Congestion pricing that imposes a fee or tax for driving in the downtown core could help prevent this future, but cities need to act fast, before self-driving cars are common, he argues.
Those conclusions emerge from an analysis published in the journal Transport Policy, in which Millard-Ball used game theory and a computer model of San Francisco traffic patterns to explore the effects of autonomous vehicles on parking. He found that the gridlock happens because self-driving cars don't need to park near a rider's destination – in fact, they don't need to park at all.
The autonomous vehicle parking problem (DOI: 10.1016/j.tranpol.2019.01.003) (DX)
(Score: 5, Informative) by Nuke on Tuesday March 12 2019, @11:56AM (6 children)
You obviously have no idea what it costs to park in central London for example.
Overpriced parking will dissappear because empty SD cars will be sent back-and-forth to the suburbs to park. Hence more traffic.
EV fans tell us that elecricity for their cars is cheap. In the UK as the moment it is very cheap or even free. OTOH you won't find many places to park in UK towns and cities as cheap as $2. Your figures are fantasy, or maybe it's like that where you live?
(Score: 4, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 12 2019, @01:09PM (3 children)
yeah I think he's never paid to park his car in an urban environment during a weekday.
the last time I parked in Chicago, it was $38 for the day. it was $20 for a half day.
and I had to walk a few blocks anyway to reach my destination, because the parking lots closest to it were full--or cost over $50.
The real cheap parking gets filled before the sun even rises and well before my car is on the road.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by nitehawk214 on Tuesday March 12 2019, @03:01PM (2 children)
Where I live the regular day-use $10/day lots all become $10/hour when there is a sporting event.
The self driving car pattern will be "Drop me off at my job/event, drive to the suburbs to find free/cheap parking. Failing that, just drive in circles for 6 hours, the gas/electricity used will be cheaper then parking downtown."
When 20k+ people want to be dropped off right at the front door of an event, and those 20k+ cars want to find a place to park; it will be gridlock.
"Don't you ever miss the days when you used to be nostalgic?" -Loiosh
(Score: 3, Touché) by acid andy on Tuesday March 12 2019, @09:44PM (1 child)
If it's electric you'd better hope it finds somewhere to recharge itself, otherwise it'll be out of juice when you want to be driven home. That's why I think standardized battery packs that can be swapped in instantly are the way forward (although there are all sorts of issues with liability if a customer has a damaged / worn out one that the gas station swaps out, and I bet demand would exceed supply such that all the pre-charged ones would have been taken so you'd still have to sit and wait for hours).
If a cat has kittens, does a rat have rittens, a bat bittens and a mat mittens?
(Score: 2) by sjames on Wednesday March 13 2019, @01:56AM
When parking is over $10, it also makes economic sense for a gasoline powered car to leave the city for parking. An electric car might go all the way home to charge.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 12 2019, @04:01PM (1 child)
So, how is that different from taking a taxi?
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Tuesday March 12 2019, @05:09PM
1. Ownership. All other things, especially cost, are going to be similar.
2. The taxi leaves the city center less often, and serves more people for its footprint
3. Honking. Don't talk to me about AI until the automatic cars learn to lay on the horn the microsecond the light turns green.