Traffic-land use compatibility and street design impacts of automated driving in Vienna, Austria

Abstract

The potential rise of automated vehicles (AVs) may significantly impact future traffic volumes, in turn affecting urban street designs and adjacent land use. While integrated studies on potential traffic and land-use changes due to AVs largely concern issues of location choice and changing settlement patterns, assessments of how AVs may influence the quality of streets depending on the requirements of adjacent land use remain scarce. This paper presents an integrated assessment of the urban effect of AVs on traffic and neighborhoods in Vienna. It provides a methodology to assess whether changing traffic volumes are compatible with the land use of a given neighborhood to approximate street space requirements for shared automated shuttles and to visualize possible trajectories of spatial transformation by considering local development goals. The results show that the opportunities to convert street space and the risks of environmental harm due to AVs will vary across neighborhoods and street typologies. It is crucial for policymakers and planners to consider such contextual differences to gain better insight into the functional requirements and urban consequences of AVs. This assessment aims to shed light on the possible trade-offs of a system change in favor of AVs to help evaluate adequate operational conditions and inform proactive traffic and urban design policies to harness possible implications.