Sometimes when we're sitting in traffic, we daydream about Metro's far-off future rail lines. Once in a while we contemplate becoming a helicopter pilot. And on other days we long for a future where we can take a snooze in our own car and wake up on the other side of the Sepulveda Pass. That last scenario may be closer than we think if one city councilmember has anything to say about it.
Councilmember David Ryu introduced a motion this week to explore the possibility of making Los Angeles a completely autonomous vehicle city by 2035. Ryu's motion tasks the Department of Transportation to deliver a report within 45 days on the steps that need to be taken in the next 5, 10, 15 and 20 years to take humans out of the driving equation.
“An autonomous transit city would eliminate the biggest drivers of traffic: vehicles circling looking for parking, vehicles blocking the intersection during rush hour, vehicles making last minute lane changes causing rapid stopping, vehicle accidents and inefficient distances between cars on our roads,” said Ryu in a statement. A movement away from car ownership and toward car sharing could free up land formerly used for parking lots, and Ryu further believes that the potential safety benefits would contribute toward L.A.'s Vision Zero goal of eliminating road deaths in the city.
There's also a business incentive behind the proposal; Ryu wants driverless car tech companies to bring their products to L.A. as soon as possible. Uber's self-driving pilot program in Pittsburgh was credited as the latest sign that autonomous automotive technology is accelerating into the main street at a more rapid pace than many of us ever imagined.
Self-driving cars could pose a particularly major shift for Ryu's own District 4, which stretches from Sherman Oaks, across the Hollywood Hills and into Koreatown and Miracle Mile. While the latter two will benefit from the Metro Purple Line extension and Crenshaw Line construction, the Valley is in sore need of a solution to help ease the gridlock coming in and out of the canyons.
Want more? Sign up here to stay in the know.
