Walking in the Era of Autonomous Vehicles
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
3. Results
Maybe it will actually separate people. People who are inclined away from physical activity will be like well, “That’s (using AVs) an easy option”. For people who are inclined to want it (physical activity), it will be more pleasant. So you’ll actually get some people getting much more and some people getting much less.(auto industry representative)
3.1. Planned Walking
If you use the examples of some of the best active transport areas like the Netherlands or Sweden, they’re successful for active transport because they have dedicated infrastructure and separate infrastructure.(federal government representative)
That interaction between AVs and active transport is going to be a challenge for a long time in urban environments … the opportunity is that if AVs result in less road space need, and if there is less congestion, we can start getting rid of some of the space that we’ve allocated to dual carriageway roads, and start allocating that more towards providing a shared path, or providing a principal shared path or a wider footpath.(transport engineer)
There’s quite a bit of concern from the elderly pedestrian community as well as from the cyclists about those (street delivery bots), but the engineers are quite keen on these ideas of little things that might be able to do deliveries at less cost.(academic)
The scooters are already becoming a bit of an issue where they are riding too fast and because it’s shared paths. Where they are leaving them as well, it’s a bit of a trip hazard. If you have these little autonomous food delivery options, they take up even more space. I think we are going to start to see struggles with this space.(federal government representative)
Empty running is where, unless you’ve got some other incentive, once the vehicle has driven you somewhere you may as well just send it home again to avoid parking costs. That gets a fairly diabolical congestion outcome. It also means that you’ve got some potentially quite poor active transport and incidental exercise outcomes.(state government representative)
They’ve done all this work to try and get people onto active transport and public transport, and that AVs could actually undo a lot of that work.(federal government representative)
If we have an autonomous vehicle in which I can actually do my emails on the way to work, then some of the negative aspects of driving are then taken away, and so maybe I would be less likely to catch public transport.(academic)
When you have a fusion between lidar, radar, and cameras, they’re very accurate, they’re very, very good. That is the reason you have the multi-sensor approach, so you have redundancies all over the place.(state government representative)
(There is) some work starting to come in terms of how will the autonomous vehicle communicate to the vulnerable road user that they have actually been detected and therefore the vulnerable road user can feel more confident that they’re not actually going to be just squashed?.(academic)
Having low- and zero-emission vehicles that are quieter causes some issues around how people are alerted to the fact that a vehicle’s coming. So that sort of stuff really needs to be in place— you’re not going to be able to hear these things coming. How are you actually going to make people aware?.(peak body representative)
It gives them more time to do physical activity because you should be getting from A to B quicker. You spend less time commuting, less time sitting around doing nothing.(telecommunications specialist)
If I spent fewer hours at work because I’ve done an hour in each direction, I would probably use that for physical activity, take the dog for a walk.(transport software specialist)
At the moment, if you want to go for a walk along the coast, you can only walk half as far because you’ve got to turn around and walk back to the vehicle. If you could set up either your own vehicle or a robotaxi to drop you off and then go and park 10 km up the road and you can go and walk your 10 km, that might be an opportunity in terms of a health benefit because it’s much more interesting to see something for the first time than it is to see something for the second time.(state government representative)
3.2. Incidental Walking
The worst-case scenario would be that everybody has their own private autonomous vehicle because we’ll obviously have a lot of people travelling around in vehicles and a lot of empty vehicle kilometers travelled. We’ll see probably a worsening of congestion because of the volume of vehicles on the roads. We’ll see a de-prioritization of people in our streets. We’ll probably see a lot less people walking, cycling, and using public transport because the car is so convenient. They just get it to drop them off door to door and then it goes home and they call it back when they want it.(insurance provider representative)
The last mile, first mile is very often the difference between using public transport or not. So, if a person can grab the smartphone, hop on the computer, whatever, call in an AV and it takes them to the railway station which is 400/500 m away, game changer.(state government representative)
First mile last mile is interesting because if you are going to get all this connectivity and these systems talking to systems where you’re not going to even walk that last mile or that first mile. That’s going to have a bit of an effect of people’s exercise regime.(automation consultant)
I think that’s (vehicle autonomy) going to exacerbate a lot of that (fast food availability). You already you see with Uber Eats, people aren’t having to leave their house, so again they’re not getting any of that incidental exercise in order to at least get the food.(academic)
3.3. Implications for Policy and Practice
Things like what London have done with the congestion charge, what Singapore does with their congestion charge, what Singapore does with the auctioning of licenses for new vehicles to restrict or tamper back some of that unconstrained private vehicle ownership and use. That needs to be looked at more.(transport engineer)
Road user charging could be an interesting one because people might be deterred from using their own vehicles on the road and then may find it attractive to use public transport. So it could actually have the effect that governments may want in terms of potentially reducing congestion and emissions, and getting people onto public transport.(automation consultant)
You add delivery bots into the mix and do you have dedicated bot paths instead of footpaths? So I think really clever, proactive regulation of space is important.(state government representative)
We’re developing an active transport health model where we cost the benefits of active transport as a new way of costing business cases for investing in walking paths and cycling paths.(state government representative)
Best-case scenario could be that we have redesigned our communities to support this new way of transport, which will take a lot of shifting to do … It’s almost going back to village styles where you’ve got schools and shops and places to commute within a fairly small radius of travel. Those would be most accessible by walking and cycling because they’ll be nice and treed and green, and it’ll be just a really beautiful space to be.(state government representative)
(We need) infrastructure and systems that make people feel safe to ride their bikes and to walk. So, that all needs to be thought through and does relate to density again—it’s going to be difficult to come up with walkable outer suburbs with huge blocks.(federal government representative)
I can see a future where you wear a thing, that a lot of people would do, embedded in their clothing or their watch or something like that to make it easier to detect.(state government representative)
(There can be a) data exchange trade off—I’m happy to share my data but this is what I would like to get back… you know, I want to get safety alerts when I’m on the road. I’m going to share out information about where I am so that others get to see me and there’ll be a broadcast from my device.(peak body representative)
It’s going to come down to taxing the goods, isn’t it? That’s where it sits. If there’s things that have significant health consequences, then that’s the biggest lever—you make those things more expensive.(transport infrastructure provider representative)
4. Discussion
Limitations and Future Research Directions
Supplementary Materials
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Conflicts of Interest
References
- Trubia, S.; Curto, S.; Severino, A.; Arena, F.; Zuccalà, Y. Autonomous vehicles effects on public transport systems. AIP Conf. Proc. 2021, 2343, 110014. [Google Scholar]
- Abe, R. Introducing autonomous buses and taxis: Quantifying the potential benefits in Japanese transportation systems. Transp. Res. Part A. 2019, 126, 94–113. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Bösch, P.M.; Becker, F.; Becker, H.; Axhausen, K.W. Cost-based analysis of autonomous mobility services. Transp. Policy 2018, 64, 76–91. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Jennings, D.; Figliozzi, M. Study of Sidewalk Autonomous Delivery Robots and Their Potential Impacts on Freight Efficiency and Travel. Transp. Res. Rec. 2019, 2673, 317–326. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [Green Version]
- Narayanan, S.; Chaniotakis, E.; Antoniou, C. Shared autonomous vehicle services: A comprehensive review. Transp. Res. Part C Emerg. Technol. 2020, 111, 255–293. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Simpson, J.R.; Mishra, S.; Talebian, A.; Golias, M.M. An estimation of the future adoption rate of autonomous trucks by freight organizations. Res. Transp. Econ. 2019, 76, 100737. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Rojas-Rueda, D.; Nieuwenhuijsen, M.J.; Khreis, H.; Frumkin, H. Autonomous vehicles and public Health. Annu. Rev. Public Health 2020, 41, 329–345. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [Green Version]
- Crayton, T.J.; Meier, B.M. Autonomous vehicles: Developing a public health research agenda to frame the future of transportation Policy. J. Transp. Health 2017, 6, 245–252. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Fagnant, D.J.; Kockelman, K. Preparing a nation for autonomous vehicles: Opportunities, barriers and policy recommendations. Transp. Res. Part Policy Pract. 2015, 77, 167–181. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Mackett, R. Improving accessibility for older people—Investing in a valuable asset. J. Transp. Health 2015, 2, 5–13. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Milakis, D.; Van Arem, B.; Van Wee, B. Policy and society related implications of automated driving: A review of literature and directions for future research. J. Intell. Transp. Syst. 2017, 21, 324–348. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Millard-Ball, A. Pedestrians, autonomous vehicles, and cities. J. Plan. Educ. Res. 2018, 38, 6–12. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [Green Version]
- Singleton, P.A.; De Vos, J.; Heinen, E.; Pudāne, B. Potential health and well-being implications of autonomous vehicles. Advances in Transport Policy and Planning 2020, 5, 163. [Google Scholar]
- Sohrabi, S.; Khreis, H.; Lord, D. Impacts of autonomous vehicles on public health: A conceptual model and policy recommendations. Sustain. Cities Soc. 2020, 63, 102457. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Yang, J.; Coughlin, J.F. In-vehicle technology for self-driving cars: Advantages and challenges for aging drivers. Int. J. Automot. Technol. 2014, 15, 333–340. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Freedman, I.G.; Kim, E.; Muennig, P.A. Autonomous vehicles are cost-effective when used as taxis. Inj. Epidemiol. 2018, 5, 24. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [Green Version]
- Pettigrew, S.; Fritschi, L.; Norman, R. The potential implications of autonomous vehicles in and around the workplace. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2018, 15, 1876. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [Green Version]
- Campisi, T.; Severino, A.; Al-Rashid, M.A.; Pau, G. The Development of the Smart Cities in the Connected and Autonomous Vehicles (CAVs) Era: From Mobility Patterns to Scaling in Cities. Infrastructures 2021, 6, 100. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Stead, D.; Vaddadi, B. Automated vehicles and how they may affect urban form: A review of recent scenario studies. Cities 2019, 92, 125–133. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Cerin, E.; Sallis, J.F.; Salvo, D.; Hinckson, E.; Conway, T.L.; Owen, N.; van Dyck, D.; Lowe, M.; Higgs, C.; Moudon, A.V.; et al. Determining thresholds for spatial urban design and transport features that support walking to create healthy and sustainable cities: Findings from the IPEN Adult study. Lancet Glob. Health 2022, 10, e895–e906. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Garau, C.; Pavan, V.M. Evaluating urban quality: Indicators and assessment tools for smart sustainable cities. Sustainability 2018, 10, 575. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [Green Version]
- Giles-Corti, B.; Moudon, A.V.; Lowe, M.; Adlakha, D.; Cerin, E.; Boeing, G.; Higgs, C.; Arundel, J.; Liu, S.; Hinckson, E.; et al. Creating healthy and sustainable cities: What gets measured, gets done. Lancet Glob. Health 2022, 10, e782–e785. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Tiboni, M.; Rossetti, S.; Vetturi, D.; Torrisi, V.; Botticini, F.; Schaefer, M.D. Urban policies and planning approaches for a safer and climate friendlier mobility in cities: Strategies, initiatives and some analysis. Sustainability 2021, 13, 1778. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Stojanovski, T. Urban form and mobility choices: Informing about sustainable travel alternatives, carbon emissions and energy use from transportation in Swedish neighbourhoods. Sustainability 2019, 11, 548. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [Green Version]
- Romance, R.; Nielsen-Rodríguez, A.; Benítez-Porres, J.; Chinchilla-Minguet, J.L.; Morente-Oria, H. Cognitive effects and educational possibilities of physical activity in sustainable cities. Sustainability 2018, 10, 2420. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [Green Version]
- Hallal, P.C.; Andersen, L.B.; Bull, F.C.; Guthold, R.; Haskell, W.; Ekelund, U. Global physical activity levels: Surveillance progress, pitfalls, and prospects. Lancet. 2012, 380, 247–257. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Physical Activity Across the Life Stages; AIHW: Canberra, Australia, 2018.
- Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Australian Burden of Disease Study: Impact and Causes of Illness and Death in Australia 2015; Australian Burden of Disease Series No. 19. Cat. No. BOD 22; AIHW: Canberra, Australia, 2019.
- Booth, L.; Norman, R.; Pettigrew, S. The potential implications of autonomous vehicles for active transport. J. Transp. Health 2019, 15, 100623. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Pettigrew, S. The potential effects of autonomous vehicles on walking. Glob. Health Promot. 2021, 29, 60–67. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Shatu, F.; Kamruzzaman, M. Planning for active transport in driverless cities: A conceptual framework and research agenda. J. Transp. Health 2022, 25, 101364. [Google Scholar]
- Soteropoulos, A.; Berger, M.; Ciari, F. Impacts of automated vehicles on travel behaviour and land use: An international review of modelling studies. Transp. Rev. 2019, 39, 29–49. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Spence, J.C.; Kim, Y.B.; Lamboglia, C.G.; Lindeman, C.; Mangan, A.J.; McCurdy, A.P.; Stearns, J.A.; Wohlers, B.; Sivak, A.; Clark, M.I. Potential impact of autonomous vehicles on movement behavior: A scoping review. Am. J. Prev. Med. 2020, 58, e191–e199. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Pudāne, B.; Rataj, M.; Molin, E.J.E.; Mouter, N.; van Cranenburgh, S.; Chorus, C.G. How will automated vehicles shape users’ daily activities? Insights from focus groups with commuters in the Netherlands. Transp. Res. Part Transp. Environ. 2019, 71, 222–235. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Australian Bureau of Statistics. Census of Population and Housing: Commuting to Work; Catalog No. 2071.0.55.001; ABS: Canberra, Australia, 2018.
- Ricciardi, A.M.; Xia, J.; Currie, G. Exploring public transport equity between separate disadvantaged cohorts: A case study in Perth, Australia. J. Transp. Geogr. 2015, 43, 111–122. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Saghapour, T.; Moridpour, S.; Thompson, R.G. Public transport accessibility in metropolitan areas: A new approach incorporating population density. J. Transp. Geogr. 2016, 54, 273–285. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Australian Bureau of Statistics. Motor Vehicle Census. ABS; 2021. Available online: https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/industry/tourism-and-transport/motor-vehicle-census-australia/latest-release (accessed on 9 July 2022).
- Biernacki, P.; Waldorf, D. Snowball sampling: Problems and techniques of chain referral sampling. Sociol. Methods Res. 1981, 10, 141–163. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Glaser, B.G.; Strauss, A.L. Discovery of Grounded Theory: Strategies for Qualitative Research; Routledge: New York, NY, USA, 1967. [Google Scholar]
- Smith, B.; McGannon, K.R. Developing rigor in qualitative research: Problems and opportunities within sport and exercise psychology. Int. Rev. Sport Exerc. Psychol. 2018, 11, 101–121. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Arena, F.; Ticali, D. The development of autonomous driving vehicles in tomorrow’s smart cities mobility. AIP Conf. Proc. 2018, 2040, 140007. [Google Scholar]
- Pettigrew, S.; Dana, L.M.; Norman, R. Clusters of potential autonomous vehicles users according to propensity to use individual versus shared vehicles. Transp. Policy 2019, 76, 13–20. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Jansen, M.; Ettema, D.; Pierik, F.; Dijst, M. Sports facilities, shopping centers or homes: What locations are important for adults’ physical activity? A cross-sectional study. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2016, 13, 287. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Pyrialakou, V.D.; Gkartzonikas, C.; Gatlin, J.D.; Gkritza, K. Perceptions of safety on a shared road: Driving, cycling, or walking near an autonomous vehicle. J. Saf. Res. 2020, 72, 249–258. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Kaddoura, I.; Bischoff, J.; Nagel, K. Towards welfare optimal operation of innovative mobility concepts: External cost pricing in a world of shared autonomous vehicles. Transp. Res. Part Policy Pract. 2020, 136, 48–63. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [Green Version]
- Metz, D. Developing policy for urban autonomous vehicles: Impact on congestion. Urban Sci. 2018, 2, 33. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [Green Version]
- Kuzio, J. Autonomous vehicles and paratransit: Examining the protective framework of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Case Stud. Transp. Policy 2021, 9, 1130–1140. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Shay, E.; Khattak, A.J.; Wali, B. Walkability in the Connected and Automated Vehicle Era: A U.S. Perspective on Research Needs. Transp. Res. Rec. 2018, 2672, 118–128. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Botello, B.; Buehler, R.; Hankey, S.; Mondschein, A.; Jiang, Z. Planning for walking and cycling in an autonomous-vehicle future. Transp. Res. Interdiscip. Perspect. 2019, 1, 100012. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Pettigrew, S.; Nelson, J.D.; Norman, R. Autonomous vehicles and cycling: Policy implications and management issues. Transp. Res. Interdiscip. Perspect. 2020, 7, 100188. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
Expected Effect on Walking | Example | |
---|---|---|
Physical characteristics of the walking environment | ||
Traffic proximity | Encourage/Suppress | Development of walking precincts vs. walking paths adjacent to busy roads |
Size of walking path | Encourage/suppress | Walking paths larger due to precise AVs or smaller due to additional road lanes |
Mixed use paths | Suppress | Pedestrians share with cyclists, scooter riders, street bots, etc. |
Psychosocial outcomes | ||
Safety concerns | Suprpess | Lack of trust in AVs |
Time availability | Encourage | Reduced time burden of driving |
Access to new walking environments | Encourage | Enhanced transport options |
Expected Effect on Walking | Example | |
---|---|---|
Physical characteristics of the walking environment | ||
Traffic proximity | Encourage/Suppress | Development of walking precincts vs. walking paths adjacent to busy roads |
Size of walking path | Encourage/Suppress | Walking paths larger due to AVs’ within-lane precision vs. smaller due to installation of additional road lanes |
Mixed use paths | Supress | Pedestrians share paths with cyclists, scooter riders, street bots, etc. |
Convenience outcomes | ||
Door-to-door transportation | Supress | Private and ride-share AVs reduce walking to/from carparks |
‘First mile last mile’ transit options | Supress | AV transit options reduce walking to/from public transport junctions |
Home deliveries | Supress | Shopping conducted from home and delivered by AV vans, bots, and drones |
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. |
© 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Share and Cite
Pettigrew, S.; Booth, L.; Farrar, V.; Godic, B.; Brown, J.; Karl, C.; Thompson, J. Walking in the Era of Autonomous Vehicles. Sustainability 2022, 14, 10509. https://doi.org/10.3390/su141710509
Pettigrew S, Booth L, Farrar V, Godic B, Brown J, Karl C, Thompson J. Walking in the Era of Autonomous Vehicles. Sustainability. 2022; 14(17):10509. https://doi.org/10.3390/su141710509
Chicago/Turabian StylePettigrew, Simone, Leon Booth, Victoria Farrar, Branislava Godic, Julie Brown, Charles Karl, and Jason Thompson. 2022. "Walking in the Era of Autonomous Vehicles" Sustainability 14, no. 17: 10509. https://doi.org/10.3390/su141710509