Autonomous or driver-less vehicles: Implementation strategies and operational concerns

Autonomous vehicles are expected to shift not only the driving paradigms but also the notion of vehicle ownership. Although autonomous vehicles are believed to introduce many safety, mobility, and environmental benefits, they will be initially priced relatively highly. This paper assesses the potential for circumventing this barrier by promoting a shared ownership program in which households form clusters that share the ownership and ridership of a set of autonomous vehicles. Such a program will increase the utilization rate of vehicles, making ownership of autonomous vehicles more economical. We study parameters that affect the benefits expected from autonomous vehicles, and introduce policy directions that can boost these benefits.