Self-driving cars are supposed to be the saviors of our cities, reducing traffic and taking distracted drivers out of the whole two-ton-of-metal-rushing-past-soft-people equation. But where are they? And will they even make it to cities before cars are banned altogether?
Can Self-Driving Cars Save Our Cities From Cars? | Jonathan Cote | TEDxStanleyPark
Self-driving vehicles promise safer, slower streets, but private self-driving cars are still far from widespread. Meanwhile, cities like Paris and Barcelona are closing city streets to cars and giving them back to residents. Even New York has converted street parking to outdoor restaurant seating during COVID. Momentum is building, and it’s pushing cars out of cities. Will the new self-driving Cruise, from GM and Honda, be too late?
“One advantage of [self-driving vehicles] is that they can optimize the location of daytime parking, freeing up space in the city center for other purposes,” writes Roman Zakharenko in the study Self-Driving Cars Will Change Cities. “They also reduce the per-mile cost of commuting.”
Private vehicles are just about the worst thing about the modern city. They’re noisy, they pollute the air, and of course they kill people in crashes. They also take up a huge amount of space. Between parking and the roads themselves, cars use 50-60 percent of the city’s surface area. And ironically, supposedly car-friendly practices make things worse. Cheap parking, for example, makes it harder to find a parking space and creates more traffic as drivers drive around looking for a cheap parking spot.
