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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: 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).
"rancid randy has a dialogue with herself[...] Somebody help him!" -- Anonymous Coward.
(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.