Disruptive Transport ― Driverless Cars, Transport Innovation and the Sustainable City of Tomorrow

With the rise of shared and networked vehicles, autonomous vehicles, and other transportation technologies, technological change is outpacing urban planning and policy. Whether urban planners and policy makers like it or not, these transformations will in turn result in profound changes to streets, land use, and cities. But smarter transportation may not necessarily translate into greater sustainability or equity. There are clear opportunities to shape advances in transportation, and to harness them to reshape cities and improve the socio-economic health of cities and residents. There are opportunities to reduce collisions and improve access to healthcare for those who need it most—particularly high-cost, high-need individuals at the younger and older ends of the age spectrum. There is also potential to connect individuals to jobs and change the way cities organize space and optimize trips.

To date, very little discussion has centered around the job and social implications of this technology. Further, policy dialogue on future transport has lagged—particularly in the arenas of sustainability and social justice. Little work has been done on decision-making in this high uncertainty environment–a deficiency that is concerning given that land use and transportation actions have long and lagging timelines.

This is one of the first books to explore the impact that emerging transport technology is having on cities and their residents, and how policy is needed to shape the cities that we want to have in the future. The book contains a selection of contributions based on the most advanced empirical research, and case studies for how future transport can be harnessed to improve urban sustainability and justice.

William Riggs is an Assistant Professor at the University of San Francisco, USA