The Price to Pay for Easy AV Travel

3 CM/LU Pending

While we hope that the future of Connected and Autonomous Vehicles (CAVs) will be shared and electric, even that will not be enough to stop some of the worse possible outcomes: a large-scale spike in vehicle miles traveled (VMT) due to the increased ease and reduced opportunity cost of traveling by vehicle. The CAV future could encourage travel behavior with major negative externalities: incentivizing more driving, further sprawl, and less physical activity. Meanwhile, our existing toolkit of Transportation Demand Management (TDM) and pricing strategies needs re-calibration and re-invigoration to meet that challenge. In some cities and districts, TDM strategies have helped achieve traffic reduction and mode split benefits through economic incentives and multimodal requirements, offering a glimpse of what is possible. What are the best practices and lessons from these efforts, and how might we prepare for what is next? This workshop lays out the risks associated with the worst-case scenarios for the CAV future that could undo many potential positive benefits from shared and electric fleets. It challenges participants to help brainstorm which of our existing tools will be most useful in managing for these negative externalities—and how all of us can begin to incorporate this capability at all levels. The workshop is cohosted by the Go Lloyd district and includes a local walkabout to help get the brainstorming juices flowing.