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Autonomous Vehicles and the Future of Urban Planning

Within the next two decades, 95 percent of U.S. passenger miles traveled could be served by autonomous vehicles (AVs) owned by companies providing transportation as a service (TaaS), according to a recent RethinkX research report. Just as the arrival of the first automobiles fundamentally changed our society in the early 1900s, the advent of AVs as our main mode of transportation will trigger significant shifts in the design of our streets and cities.

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A typical two-lane street reserves 60 percent of its space for vehicles (either driving or parking) with just 40 percent of space for pedestrian use. That disparity extends with wider and busier thoroughfares that can dedicate 90 percent or more of their space for autos.

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Driverless cars offer the promise of flipping those ratios as they wouldn’t require near the parking space and can be expected to travel more safely and efficiently. The question then becomes, what should our streets be? Should they be for health and play? Do we want to use them to bring nature to people who don’t live near a park or countryside? Should they return to their original purposes—as market spaces for the exchange of goods, ideas and culture?

Driverless cars offer the promise of flipping those ratios as they wouldn’t require near the parking space and can be expected to travel more safely and efficiently. The question then becomes, what should our streets be? Should they be for health and play? Do we want to use them to bring nature to people who don’t live near a park or countryside? Should they return to their original purposes—as market spaces for the exchange of goods, ideas and culture?

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A McKinsey & Company report predicts that by the middle of the century, driverless cars will cut the need for parking in the U.S. by more than 61 billion square feet (5.7 billion sq. m.)—more than the entire state of Delaware.

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The 4.12 million miles (6.63 million km) of roadways in the U.S., some of which pass through the country’s highest-value urban real estate, serve as an unparalleled land bank. These living streets of the future will become places that respond to adjacent development and that transform the first 30 feet (9.1 m.) of space extending from buildings into an activity-filled, indoor/outdoor public realm.

5/5

Within the next two decades, 95 percent of U.S. passenger miles traveled could be served by autonomous vehicles (AVs) owned by companies providing transportation as a service (TaaS), according to a recent RethinkX research report. Just as the arrival of the first automobiles fundamentally changed our society in the early 1900s, the advent of AVs as our main mode of transportation will trigger significant shifts in the design of our streets and cities.

1/5

A typical two-lane street reserves 60 percent of its space for vehicles (either driving or parking) with just 40 percent of space for pedestrian use. That disparity extends with wider and busier thoroughfares that can dedicate 90 percent or more of their space for autos.

2/5

Driverless cars offer the promise of flipping those ratios as they wouldn’t require near the parking space and can be expected to travel more safely and efficiently. The question then becomes, what should our streets be? Should they be for health and play? Do we want to use them to bring nature to people who don’t live near a park or countryside? Should they return to their original purposes—as market spaces for the exchange of goods, ideas and culture?

Driverless cars offer the promise of flipping those ratios as they wouldn’t require near the parking space and can be expected to travel more safely and efficiently. The question then becomes, what should our streets be? Should they be for health and play? Do we want to use them to bring nature to people who don’t live near a park or countryside? Should they return to their original purposes—as market spaces for the exchange of goods, ideas and culture?

3/5

A McKinsey & Company report predicts that by the middle of the century, driverless cars will cut the need for parking in the U.S. by more than 61 billion square feet (5.7 billion sq. m.)—more than the entire state of Delaware.

4/5

The 4.12 million miles (6.63 million km) of roadways in the U.S., some of which pass through the country’s highest-value urban real estate, serve as an unparalleled land bank. These living streets of the future will become places that respond to adjacent development and that transform the first 30 feet (9.1 m.) of space extending from buildings into an activity-filled, indoor/outdoor public realm.

5/5

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