Projects

Much of the world’s attention has been captured by autonomous vehicles (AVs) and their manufacturers, but with its focus on technology, the industry has lost sight of how different behaviors and services are prerequisites for whether society can benefit from the technology in a good way. Without shared travel, AVs can actually increase energy consumption, encourage urban sprawl, increase traffic congestion, exacerbate socio-economic stratification and reduce public transport.

Only with shared travel will we achieve the social benefits and sustainable cities and transport that AVs promise: sharing can reduce carbon emissions, reduce road accidents, improve safety and interaction for vulnerable groups, increase mobility for individuals and reduce economic losses from traffic congestion. Instead of leaving the future in the hands of manufacturers, society and public transport players need to understand why shared travel works in some regions and not in others, and how to locate and replicate these success stories.

This industrial PhD analyzed international use cases and used "Technological Readiness" methodology to develop a framework for evaluation and recommendations for increased sharing, here described as "Societal Readiness Levels for Autonomous Vehicles".