The automobile has proven to be one of the most popular and transformational transport technologies ever. Now, however, slightly more than a century after its invention, there are signs that car use has stabilised or is in decline in many historic markets. Automakers are deploying new technologies they feel meet their customers' requirements but will the industry's historic business model remain relevant for the 21st century? Where demand for cars is growing, especially in developing countries, growth in car ownership poses formidable challenges related to space constraints, congestion, crashes and pollution. Can the car reinvent itself to meet changing consumer expectations and constraints posed by high density urban conglomerations?
This session explored these questions and discussed the following issues:
How is vehicle use changing: is there a shifting balance between shared and private ownership of cars, and what are the changing demands of younger generations?
What are the regulatory and technological issues relating to advances in connected and driverless vehicles?
How and under what conditions could a shift to smaller, potentially shared, vehicles providing positive benefits for society?
Will the emergence of new services leveraging advances in IT and autonomous driving blur the lines between the public and private provision of transport?
See more at: http://2014.internationaltransportforum.org/vehicle-society
CIS/CARS Fellow Bryant Walker Smith discusses the future of autonomous driving.
Video: http://itf2014.streamuk.com/?entry_id=0_ir3e5i6y
View the full session from the International Transportation Forum here.