The Economics of Autonomous Driving: The Impact of Driverless Cars on the Economy, Society and the Individual

This book explores the impact of driverless cars on the economy, society and social life in the US, EU, and China. The authors outline the economic, social and individual implications of the rise of autonomous driving and present a framework to leverage this phenomenon in order to utilise time differently, improve quality of life, boost social prosperity, restructure work and welfare, and tailor all infrastructure and urban architecture to the needs of human beings.

Although autonomous driving is a relatively new topic, worldwide there are already several initiatives (e.g. in Boston, Mexico City and Singapore) that very clearly demonstrate the economic, individual and social impact. One particularly interesting aspect is the remodelling of an entire city district in Shanghai into an area that will soon welcome driverless cars. In the book, these cases are presented, discussed and expanded upon through interviews with leading experts and decision-makers. This guarantees that, rather than statements remaining abstract, the reader gains insights into specific projects that involve the implementation of autonomous driving.

While there are several books on the subject, this books offers a macro- versus micro-perspective an approach that has so far not been taken in the current literature. Each author represents an important region for the development of autonomous driving, allowing them to adopt a global perspective and to work through developments, examples and cases from all three regions in the book. The authors show how autonomous driving can cut the social costs of road traffic. For this reason, the book also includes an agenda for political decision-makers to be able to truly capture this potential.