" Put the cool aid down and have a glance at reality."
Hmmm . Not the response I expected .
Anyway . Assuming driverless cars develop as quickly as predicted , the combination of them and various ride sharing apps will have a significant effect on habits in my opinion .
Using Melbourne as an example , only about 20% of commuters use public transport . Apparently that's one of the highest in Australia .
So , even if everyone wanted to use public transport to get to work , it couldn't physically or practically be done . That's why we have ever expanding road systems which also transfers the costs from the goverment to the public sector .
It's a well known phenomenon that the more roads you build , the more people will drive on them . So , you are forever playing catch up . It never gets any better .
The driverless car combined with ride sharing apps should put a seriously big dent in the commuter issue . People that travel to the same areas every day will ride share with a tailor made service . This alone should significantly reduce the number of vehicles on the road in peak time . I believe only a 5 to 10 % reduction in the number of vehicles is expected to have a major impact on traffic congestion thus improving travel times . Driverless cars might achieve a 30 % reduction .
Unlike enthusiasts such as myself , many people would not drive if they didn't have to . Then there's the cost of owning and maintaining . The second biggest cost in life for many people . Driverless cars will ultimately be safer . Look at peak hour every day . Crashes , people incapable of merging or even travelling smoothly . These things cause massive delays .
A google study I read a while back thinks that the overwhelming factor will be time . The productivity gain by people either having shorter commuting times or able to work whilst they are commuting will be enormous . Google thinks that will be the biggest benefit .
But anyway , I'm interested on how they will affect real estate . Just as the internet is disrupting how we shop so will the driverles car disrupt how real estate works .
Read the attached article and see how the car affects real estate now . Particularly the amount of land that it has on stand by in order for the car to do it's job . Much of that land is incredibly under utilised when you think about it .
