Driverless cars will be the majority in near future

A new study suggests that, by 2038, the majority of vehicles on Queensland roads will be autonomous.

TransPosition conducted the study for the Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads, examining the transport landscape for South East Queensland in the future.

“We wanted to investigate the effect autonomous vehicles would make on our road network and the long-term policy impacts of that,” said TransPosition director Peter Davidson.

“What we found was that in 2046 we could have a completely autonomous network, with higher speeds and capacities and far fewer crashes.

“This study is unique as it was done based on a detailed model of the South East Queensland network, including public and active transport.”

In an autonomous vehicle, people will be able to catch up on emails, watch TV and sleep. TransPosition believes this will make public and active transport a less attractive method of travel.

“Taking trips in cars will be more economical and attractive over other modes of transport, leading to people taking more trips, more often, for longer distances in their autonomous vehicles,” said Davidson.

Despite this, whether autonomous vehicles will have the desired effect on congestion remains to be seen.

“It’s true autonomous vehicles will allow speed limits and road capacity to be increased; however, with the attractiveness of autonomous vehicles, there will be more cars on the road,” Davidson said.

As a consequence, the study recommends that society move away from private ownership of cars and into a service model, which would create a more efficient system and make better use of public transport.

Davidson will address the state’s leading engineers and public works professionals at the Institute of Public Works Engineering Australasia, Queensland (IPWEAQ) state conference, taking place at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre from 8–10 November.

To find out more about the conference or to register, click here.

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