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In just a few years, New Yorkers will be able to schlep across the city in a car that's operated entirely by a computer program. The concept of widespread self-driving automobiles still sounds like science fiction, but rapidly progressing technology has put such a reality right around the corner. Google's autonomous vehicle wing, Waymo, is already operating on roads in California, Texas, Washington and Arizona. Ford has announced plans to roll out driverless cars by 2021 and use them for ride-hailing services. Volvo and Uber are partnering on fully automated taxis. Tesla is working to release its first line of self-driving cars next year.
This shift towards a world without drivers has sparked the attention of the Regional Plan Association (RPA), an organization that advocates for improved urban planning and infrastructure in New York. The group issued a new report this week detailing what's at stake when it comes to the future of self-driving cars in the tristate area, and how policymakers and stakeholders can get ahead of the trend.
The RPA says that autonomous vehicles could make driving safer, more efficient and, if rolled out in the right way, even reduce the cost of public transportation. They could make shipping more efficient, which could make goods cheaper. In short, self-driving cars have the ability to make New York a better place to live. But in order for this automated utopia to come into being, the association says that government and regulatory agencies need to keep up with technology companies that are innovating at an ambitious clip. “Public officials and agencies should not stand idly by and let emerging technologies dictate how the city evolved,” the report says. “Instead they should be proactive to ensure the best possible outcomes for those that live and work in the region by learning from the mistakes of the automobile age.”
Aside from the risk of corporations taking over New York's transit system, autonomous vehicles come with a whole slew of logistical concerns. The new industry could put hundreds of thousands of professional drivers out of work. Users would need to reckon with the fact a robot could kill them. And when accidents do occur, governments and insurance companies will need to determine who to hold accountable.
All of these challenges (and more) will need to be resolved sooner than later. The New York Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers projects that fully autonomous vehicles will start hitting the roads in 2022, and will make up 75 percent of all cars on the roads by 2040.
In a city where residents pride themselves in not driving, this might sound like a dream come true. But the RPA warns that if we're not smart about the rollout of self-driving cars, that dream could turn to shit.
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