Our Founder, Sandra Phillips, was recently featured in an article by car2go entitled: How Autonomous Vehicles will Learn from Shared Mobility. In this article, Sandra expanded on her Next Visionaries vision of autonomous vehicle networks, while sharing her detailed insight as to how the shared mobility movement has become a precursors to the autonomous vehicle movement. We have summarized this question-and-answer style article for you here.
Why is shared mobility is a precursor for autonomous driving?
Shared mobility and autonomous driving are deeply connected in the following ways:
- Data: Shared mobility provides a lot of data which shows mobility patterns, such as where people are picking up and dropping off vehicles. This data will enable autonomous vehicles to learn and optimize the routes of their networks to service demands.
- Process: Shared mobility has established processes that will be critical for operating autonomous vehicle networks, such as cleaning and maintaining vehicles and handling lost and found items.
- Trust: When it comes to the “feeling” of shared mobility amongst its members, the industry has developed trust each time the shared vehicle is left for us in an agreeable state. Carpooling and ridesharing has amplified the trust in the industry as members ride with other passengers in small shared spaces. When autonomous vehicle networks take over, there will no longer be a driver, meaning that systems that build trust, like rating your experiences, will be needed and shared mobility provides a great example
will autonomous vehicles be privately owned or shared?
We believe autonomous vehicles will need to be shared, rather than privately owned, for two main reasons:
- Affordability: Autonomous vehicles will be too expensive to be privately owned.
- Traffic Management: If autonomous vehicles are privately owned, the industry won’t be solving problems of traffic congestion. To ensure that autonomous vehicle networks are actually solving the problems that we face in mobility today, the public body should be involved in running them to make sure that all areas of the city are connected and that public transport is available and affordable for everyone.
How will public transport fit with autonomous vehicles?
Autonomous vehicles will supplement public transit the way that shared mobility currently does, as it will be available on demand unlike public transit which runs on fixed schedules. Autonomous Vehicles will also come in a variety of shapes and sizes, changing the ideas we have of “cars” and “busses.”
what are the concerns regarding shared autonomous networks?
The two major concerns to keep in mind when architecting such networks are:
- Without a driver and the necessity of conversation, we risk that people will get even more disconnected.
- People will have to treat these shared public spaces with respect so the next person using it feels comfortable, which is an issue that shared mobility services currently struggle with.
What are your thoughts/concerns regarding the future of autonomous vehicles? Click here to learn more, and be sure to check out the full article here.
