Driverless cars could lead to more traffic

Some transportation experts warn that driverless vehicles may lead to more traffic.

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"We could end up with a lot of cars on the road,"saidAnnaLisaMeyboom, director of the Transportation Infrastructure and Public Space Lab (TIPSlab) research group at UBC.

Meyboom spoke with guest host Stephen Quinn on CBC's The Early Edition on Monday.

"You've all sorts of potential extra peopleon the road that don't currently drive, including kids, dogs and people who are blind,"she said.

Re-imagine public transportation

Meyboom wants the governmenttore-imagine public transportation to include driverless cars.

She suggests looking intoautonomous shuttles that could carry about 10 people on either a fixedroute or on demand.

Or, she suggests a driverless taxi service, where you request a vehicle via your mobile phone, then a car picks you up and takes you to your destination.

Meyboom admits though that such services will only work if they are available to everyone regardless of income or location.

Legislation needed

Meyboom said legislation would have to be brought into place for driverless transit services to work.

"Otherwise they may decide that area is profitable, that area isn't. Which means you will end up with no transportation services to certain areas in some cases, or you will end up with a very poorlymonetized transportation system," she said.

With files from the CBC's The Early Edition and Jake Costello.