Publication Detail

Autonomous Vehicles and the Built Environment: Exploring the Impacts on Different Urban Contexts

UCD-ITS-RP-18-114

Journal Article

Suggested Citation:
Riggs, Williams, Nico Larco, Gerry Tierney, Melissa Ruhl, Josh Karlin-Resnick, Caroline J. Rodier (2018) Autonomous Vehicles and the Built Environment: Exploring the Impacts on Different Urban Contexts. Road Vehicle Automation 5

Autonomous Vehicles (AVs) offer a new entryway into society-wide conversations regarding transportation, functions of cities, the use of streets and, ultimately, urban sustainability. AVs are likely to disrupt urban spaces from city centers to the suburbs and rural edges of cities. This chapter focuses on these places. It tests potential changes to the built environment in two different urban contexts; a street-car suburban location (circa 1920s–30s) and a post-war suburban location. The outcomes from these tests are used to offer insight into how autonomous technology may have different impacts across space. The outcomes also reveal AVs may impact modal decisions differently based on location, and how planners and policy makers might frame built environment solutions to promote sustainable and livable urbanism.

Key words:
Autonomous vehicles, Built environment, Cities, Urban planning