Planning Urban Futures for Autonomous and Shared Vehicles: The Role of Planning Support Tools as a Policy Instrument

Sam McLeod, Carey Curtis and John Stone, chapter in anthology Shaping smart mobility futures: governance and policy instruments in times of sustainability transitions, Emerald Publishing Limited, August 2020

Modelling has been a mainstay of conventional planning support tools (PSTs) since the 1960s and is instrumental in transport and land use planning decision-making. Numerous studies have been conducted to model the potential impacts of emerging vehicle automation and sharing technologies. A systematic review of recent modelling studies of autonomous and shared vehicles in the research literature examines the extent of their contribution to ‘smart’ mobility knowledge. The findings suggest a limited knowledge base from which to support future planning. PSTs that can offer more pluralistic, discursive, and transparent methods in order to understand and proactively shape a transition to a planned urban future are also needed.

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