The Economist recently published a fascinating article about how self-driving vehicles are already transforming city economies and travel behavior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For me, this is almost personal. I clock over 100,000 kilometers a year, and I\u2019m waiting for a decent autopilot system more eagerly than my kids wait for Santa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Imagine future road trips: switch on the robot for boring highways, and take the wheel only when the road becomes pure pleasure\u2014winding mountain passes or off-road trails where autopilots will still struggle for years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In pilot cities, there are more of these vehicles than you'd think.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In San Francisco, they account for around 10% of rides. Los Angeles and Phoenix are catching up quickly. Waymo\u2014Google\u2019s self-driving car project\u2014isn\u2019t profitable yet, but most of the costs are R&D. Once the tech goes mainstream, the cost per ride will drop more sharply than we can imagine. That\u2019s when things will really start to shift.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The taxi driver profession is clearly on its way out. Robots don\u2019t need breaks, weekends, or paid leave. But it won\u2019t stop there. Fewer accidents means fewer jobs for lawyers and insurance agents who've built careers around traffic collisions. It\u2019s already visible in the stats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Parking? Also doomed. Why park when your self-driving car can just leave the city center\u2014or circle the block while you sip coffee? Vast parking zones can be repurposed into homes, offices, or, if we\u2019re lucky, parks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
People\u2019s habits are shifting too. Office workers might start moving to the suburbs\u2014after all, you can work on a laptop from the backseat of a robotaxi. Pedestrians might stop checking for cars before crossing: the robot will stop. In San Francisco, human drivers are already cutting off autonomous cars more aggressively\u2014after all, the AI always yields.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cities will lose revenue from traffic fines, and specialized lawyers and insurers might disappear right after taxi drivers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s quite possible that within a decade, getting a driver\u2019s license will be harder than getting a pilot\u2019s license. Only true enthusiasts will bother. Which is actually great: it\u2019ll just be me and the robots out on the road.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Self-driving cars are changing urban economies, driving habits, and entire professions. A look into our near future.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":799,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-798","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ai","category-life"],"yoast_head":"\n