Driverless cars could solve congestion crisis

recommendations to be handed down in October.

It found that if the entire state switched to electric cars tomorrow, our energy consumption would rise by as much as 56 per cent and create added strain during peak periods.

But a move to driverless cars could potentially solve Melbourne’s congestion crisis by severely cutting the number of cars on the road down to 260,000 by 2046.

“There is a lot of hype around driverless and zero emissions vehicles,” project director Dr Allison Stewart said.

“Our research shows that while they could deliver profound benefits, they also present challenges that need to be addressed.

“It seems most of the countries that have significant uptake of electric vehicle charging do so at home.

“We see a significant increase in requirements for peak demand to match that scenario.”

The infrastructure body estimated that fully automated and zero emissions cars could reduce road deaths by 94 per cent and subsequently save up to $735 million in annual health costs.

Driverless cars would effectively eliminate congestion and make road networks more efficient.

Infrastructure Victoria CEO Michel Masson said the automotive technology could reshape our cities.

“What we can see through this evidence base is that there are a range of impacts from driverless and zero emissions vehicles across the whole spectrum of Victorian infrastructure, from energy to land use to our transport networks,” he said.

“What’s striking with the findings is that there is a point in time when you will really have to question whether you need to build an additional road.”