Editorial: Transit Reform in an Age of Automation

By Woodland Daily Democrat 

There is broad agreement that California has allowed its infrastructure to seriously deteriorate, but not much accord on how to pay for the necessary improvements. And as the number of self-driving vehicles continue growing, coupled with more people using services such as Uber, there could be fewer sources for tax money to pay for highways.

We could see this in the study released by the Institute of Transportation studies at UC Davis on Monday, which is predicting a rapid change in transportation as a result of three major technology revolutions: shared, electric and automated vehicles.

Forty policymakers, researchers, and representatives from government, nonprofit organizations and the technology and auto industries participated in the survey, which was developed in connection with the launch of ITS-Davis’ new Policy Initiative, “3 Revolutions: Sharing, Electrification and Automation.”

“This survey shows us that without thoughtful collaboration and community-facing policies, these changes would lead to increased inequities, vehicle travel, and greenhouse gas emissions. We need to be creative in order to steer these innovations to the public interest,” stated Dan Sperling, director of ITS-Davis and the new 3 Revolutions Policy Initiative.

...Read the full editorial story at The Woodland Daily Democrat