Driverless cars could be final stop for buses

Driverless cars could bring about the demise of public transport and clog up city centres, the World Economic Forum (WEF) has warned.

Once confined to science fiction, “robo-taxis” and shuttles that can be summoned through a smartphone will become available in some large cities by the end of this year, according to the WEF, which is widely known for its annual meeting in Davos.

Researchers built a sophisticated traffic simulation model based on the US city of Boston, which showed the contrasts between current traffic patterns and future scenarios.

It found that driverless, on-demand car services will be used by commuters for short journeys where there are gaps in public transport.

Self-driving vehicles are expected to be cheaper than taxis and apps such as Uber because of the low cost of running the driverless software.

In comparison with city centres, which will see a 6 per cent increase in travel times, suburbs will enjoy a reduction in traffic, with journey lengths falling by 12 per cent. Cities will also require roughly half as many parking spots thanks to the technology.

The organisation spent three years researching the impact that the technology could have on a major city.

It hopes these predictions will help governments around the world prepare for the major adjustment, which it claims could come within months.