SELF-DRIVING TAXIS EXPECTED TO REDUCE EMISSIONS IN THE FUTURE

Electrified Automated Taxis Could Be A Real Game-Changer In Bid To Reduce Emissions

Jeffery Greenblatt and Samveg Saxena, researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California, concluded in a study published in the journal Nature Climate Change that automated taxis could produce per-mile emissions between 87 and 94 percent lower than today’s average car. This is based on the assumption that self-driving taxis would be electrified as well as redesigned to be much more compact and efficient due to the lack of a driver and limited number of passengers. According to Greenblatt, battery-powered vehicles are cheaper to run over time, allowing increased energy savings.

Significant progress has been made toward the commercialization of the technology behind self-driving vehicles in recent years, with manufacturers such as GM and Tesla planning to introduce fully automated highway driving technology over the next several years. Taxis, however, might be able to be automated more rapidly, considering the environmental advantages of coordinated fleets of vehicles for often-traveled routes.

A 2014 study by the Intelligent Transportation Society of America found that the increased use of vehicle automation could result in a two to four percent reduction in gas consumption each year over the next decade. In short, these developments would mean not only significant change for the transportation industry, but an entire sector of employment.