How Internet clogging up city streets
vehicles to move the same people. “Therefore, more traf¿c.” What is clear is that the current situation cannot continue, he said, adding that many urban authorities are keen to clear congestion.
“I think we are going to continue to see stronger and stronger regulatory interventions to manage the impact of these companies.”
Prof. Christo Wilson, a computer these people would not have taken if not for cheap, available ride-sharing.
“So, that is almost certainly increasing congestion.”
Congestion charges
For their part, ride-sharing ¿rms dispute the claim that they are the main cause of clogging the streets in the busiest cities.
Andrew Salzberg, head of Uber’s transport policy, said, it impossible for people to get around are not good for our business.
“It was also a mistake to think that Uber and other ridesharing ¿rms want to replace public transport.
“We have come out many, many times and said, in the core of dense cities, there is no more ef¿cient way to move people around than public transport.
“The patronage of both ridesharing services and public ride-sharing. One such example of this was already operating in and around Innis¿l in Ontario.
This uses Uber cars to deliver people from their homes to central points where they then catch buses and trams to reach the center of Toronto.
He said, “Innis¿l’s local authority also subsidizes Uber fares to ensure the system is attractive to those sections of the population who typically don’t own a car.”
Carlo Ratti, a professor of urban technologies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), said, “There is a de¿nite need to manage the changes that are rippling through cities as ride-sharing and autonomous cars develop and mature.”
In 2014, Ratti demonstrated how smart routing and carpooling could cut the amount of traf¿c needed to move people around cities by 80 percent.
He stands by that prediction today but said work had to be done to soften the impact of those changes.
Ratti said studies had shown it would be ‘disastrous’ to simply swap our existing system of high personal car ownership for one in which everyone owns a robot car that follows them around.
“Increased pollution, gridlock, a massive increase in urban sprawl and huge impacts on the transport industry would be the results if that scenario played out unchecked.
“It is imperative that we view these new technologies with a critical eye — and guide them toward the societal goals we desire.
“If we can manage the transition in a thoughtful way, self-driving cars could help us achieve a safer and more pleasant urban experience.”