New Vernacular for Self Driving Cars: Equity

What is happening? A new report from Urban Institute warns that policies surrounding self driving cars shouldn’t leave out historically disadvantaged communities.

Why is this important? The report discusses the benefits of self driving cars like, reducing emissions, improved traffic safety, increase transportation options for older people or people with disabilities,

How will this be important? A laundry list of solutions from the report:

• Offering owners credits if they can prove they powered their vehicles with renewable energy.
• Taxing the “empty” miles AVs drive without passengers, a policy that could be expanded to non-autonomous vehicles, too.
• Adjust fees on ride-hailing trips to encourage shared rides, rather than individual ones.
• Impose guarantees that autonomous vehicles would service all sections of a community.
• Encourage ride-hailing operators with autonomous vehicles to offer ways of summoning them that don’t depend on a smartphone or bank account, through the use of phone calls, kiosks or other methods.
• Add subsidies for rides linked to transit trips.

Route Fifty | As Self-Driving Cars Hit the Streets, New Equity Concerns Emerge