Despite the recurrence of negative headlines over the years, the company’s extraordinary surge in popularity and size remains unstoppable. Initially at least, this was the result of a totally unique – and totally unlegislated – offering. The public, government and employees have been playing catch-up over safety concerns and employee rights ever since, and the argument that new tech is too new to legislate or prepare for no longer holds credence. And it’s into this new world that another technology being trialled by Uber is heading: driverless cars.
“To ensure disruption caused by CAV (connected and autonomous vehicles) does not have fundamentally large impacts on certain parts of society, it will be important for the government to proactively address the issues,” says Natalie Sauber, Market Intelligence Lead for global design and consultancy firm Arcadis. “We cannot live in the past and this change will happen – whether we like it or not – so it is incumbent on all stakeholders to ensure a smooth transition that respects and supports those impacted by the changes.”
Arcadis recently published its Citizens in Motion study, an in-depth look at the progress and conditions of driverless tech in 14 major cities across the globe, along with recommendations for how each locale can best take that work forward. They found that despite the totally different conditions in each country and differing approaches needed, three main elements must always be assessed and addressed when planning a driverless future.
The first is citizen connection – as Sauber puts it, “if you screw up and lose public opinion, you’re gone. Everything is more fast-paced at the moment.” The second is governance, including legislation changes, regulation, funding and collaboration with the private sector. The primary goal should be to be preemptive. Governments should not, says Sauber, be “constantly playing catch-up and reacting to new circumstances”, whether that’s who should be liable over driverless car accidents, or where future funding will come from. The final element is enabling infrastructure – preparing for the onslaught of massive data traffic, installing charging networks, and keeping consumer costs at a level that ensures mass uptake.
Each element plays into and impacts the other. Take data traffic and citizen connection. “In Europe we are currently experiencing a backlash against corporate use of personal data,” says Sauber. “Clearly, we will have to figure out the right way of protecting personal data, but at the same time use it to improve the safety and convenience of the technology.” Data regulation goes to the heart of public trust and whether consumers will feel comfortable using the infrastructure at meaningful frequencies to enable growth.
Equally, the question over who is liable for the vehicles speaks to the interplay of the private sector investing and taking on risk, and public opinion. Sauber highlights Volvo’s decision in 2015 to accept full responsibility for its driverless cars rather than looking to share liability with the public sector. Considering the car of the future will be the same as today, simply with added connectivity and gadgets, says Sauber, the move may be a calculated effort by Volvo to differentiate itself. “Companies need to look at the pain points with customers. Other OEMs may take up other obstacles such as privacy or security.”
Arcadis believes Mobility as a Service (MaaS) trials may be the key to helping a city succeed across all three elements. It sees MaaS – the integration of different transport modes into one seamless and uniform system - as the ideal outcome of autonomous driving. Imagine using one app on your phone to touch in and out of your flight, train or bus and straight into a driverless car. Customer experience, payment and regulation would all be streamlined, the data all contained in one flow rather than with numerous stakeholders with different data security. It would address many of the problems cities face in juggling these issues, partly by forcing them to work all these factors together.
Looking at the interplay of the main three elements in London, the report shows a public wary of new services but in favour of cheaper, more environmentally-friendly transport including ride-sharing; legislation, funding and trials already in place; and an infrastructure generally primed for change, with Oyster paving the way for MaaS and the congestion charge setting a precedent for managing traffic flow. A recent UCL study showed that MaaS presents a great solution for London’s own congestion problems, with 33 per cent of car owners saying it would help them depend on their car less.
On the other hand, while Dubai is considering hydrogen technology, Hyperloop and drone taxis, and Singapore’s government has plans to introduce driverless buses by 2022, the UK has Brexit. Sauber is realistic about the challenges this brings, but says: “Nonetheless, change can be a good thing and it is now incumbent on government to ensure the disruption can serve as a positive catalyst.”
“The UK will have to reinvent itself, collaborate, re-educate the workforce, and think outside the box. We have lost our sense of adventure in Europe and a wake-up call is one of the best things that can happen to a country. If we only stick to what we’re great at, this is not how we drive change.”
“China will lead all of us with AV purely because they need to – it’s been predicted that by 2030 their population will have reached 1.45 billion. They need to sort themselves out with regards to infrastructure, work and pollution. They have a national need to do that. The UK is in a very similar position.”
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Find more information on Arcadis here.
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
