Why smart cities need more than just autonomous vehicles

Cities aren’t just about one thing. There are many aspects of life in the city, and transport is but one of them.

That’s why it’s suggested that smart cities need more than just autonomous vehicles (AVs) in the same way that traditional transport modes don’t make a city in itself. To a certain extent that that’s also the view of Bruno Taratufolo, marketing and product strategy at AGC Glass Europe. Behind anything smart in cities are data and analytics. Both of these tools can be used to efficiently manage a city’s assets and infrastructure, to improve sustainability, and to improve the quality of life of its residents.

Yet there is still a need, in his opinion, for defining: “What is a smart city?” By defining smart cities, he says it becomes clear that AVs are only one element to consider, and so relying solely on them would not be sufficient. He adds: “Relying solely on AVs would not be sufficient and there are several factors that need to be considered when designing a truly smart transport system. Smart transport has to be multi-modal, including cycling, walking and public transport as well as personal vehicles. They should all be integrated in a seamless way.

“The smart transport system should prioritize sustainability, and the needs of pedestrians and cyclists by making cities more accessible and safer for non-motorized forms of transportation. There is also the carbon footprint, which will also come into the game, which smart transport should reduce but I am not sure AVs will represent the lowest carbon footprint, even though there will be electric vehicles. The smart city should go beyond AVs and consider a variety of factors to have a truly integrated and sustainable transportation system.”

Privately owned cars

Christian Bode, director and technical practice leader of Streets at AECOM, looks at it from a different perspective. He claims privately owned cars have inherent efficiency challenge. Most cars have low occupancy levels, equating to an average of 1.1-1.5 people. It is also thought quite widely that they spend 95% of their life parked up, taking up vast areas of space both on-road and off-road.

He therefore comments: “With autonomous vehicles, while home based arrangements may not change, the end trip will. People will want to be dropped as close to their destination as possible and we will have greater levels of drop off and pick up activity at the curbside. This has potential to create knock-on implications for traffic and would need greater control of curbside access – think how things work around train stations or airports.”

Road congestion

Dr Benedikt Kloss, associate partner, McKinsey Center for Future Mobility (MCFM), says road congestion is the main concern. So smarter transport solutions for him have to involve a mix of transport modes. In his view, the car will still play a role. However, this will be alongside, for example, public transport, ride-hailing, car-sharing, autonomous taxis and shuttles, e-scooters or bicycles. In fact, his organization’s latest survey suggests that 56% of the respondents can imagine replacing private car journeys with shared autonomous vehicle trips in the future.

He adds: “What is also important when it comes to autonomous driving is that we have to distinguish between private autonomous driving, i.e., owning an autonomous vehicle, and shared autonomous driving. Owning an autonomous vehicle will not solve the congestion equation. Shared autonomous driving or a small autonomous minibus could help to resolve congestion and free up space. If these shared autonomous vehicles are pooled, i.e., pooling strangers together, requiring the sharing of driving on the road you could reduce congestion.”

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