How Shared Autonomous Electric Vehicles Could Slash Resource Use and Make Cities More Enjoyable

Abstract

Electric cars can slash greenhouse gas emissions, but they still have the other drawbacks cars have. We show that shared autonomous electric vehicles (SAEVs) can provide personal transportation with the comfort and speed of cars while radically reducing the number and size of vehicles. This leads to vehicle fleets that require over fifteen times less resources and make the city much healthier (in terms of particulate matter, noise pollution and traffic accidents). SAEVs also require over a hundred times less parking space and make streets more pedestrian friendly so they become spaces to meet others.