Driverless cars alter tenant needs
Driverless vehicles will change way commercial properties designed, a property expert says.
Chris Farhi, a strategic consulting director at Colliers International, said it was too soon to predict exactly what impact driverless cars and trucks would have on commercial property.
But there was no doubt tenants would eventually need adaptable spaces for an increasingly diverse mix of parking.
Farhi said more electric charging stations would be needed, and autonomous pick-up and drop-off zones would change the layout of parking.
‘‘Autonomous vehicles will dramatically change the way people and goods are moved about, which will inevitably have an impact on commercial property.’’
Driverless cars are also likely to have a noticeable impact on traffic congestion. But expert opinion has been conflicted on whether driverless cars would decrease or increase congestion, particularly during transitional years where driverless cars are in the minority.
Autonomous vehicles could also have an impact on where businesses were located. the are
‘‘For freight and logistics, the choice of locations is super critical because it impacts both the travel time and the risk of delays,’’ Farhi said.
‘‘For example, longer journeys with high congestion are more exposed to delays.’’
‘‘Driverless vehicles may enable businesses to be more flexible about their choices of locations. Companies could move further out into cheaper locations, or even reconfigure their network of depots.’’
Tech giants Google, Apple, Tesla and Uber have been on the forefront of driverless technology, and all major car makers have significantly invested in developing the technology.
‘‘The question isn’t if, but when, autonomous vehicles come to dominate our roads. And commercial property tenants and owners need to be ready to adapt,’’ Farhi said.
Experts predict autonomous vehicles will mean people no longer need to own private cars, and there will be more sharing and car-pooling.
‘‘That is likely to prompt a shift away from individually assigned car parks towards more shared parking spaces.’’
It could also reduce the overall number of car parks in a commercial premises, something Farhi said tenants were considering.
The Ministry of Transport said changes to road infrastructure would not be needed, given that autonomous cars relied on their own sensors and computers to navigate.
Autonomous vehicles are being extensively tested on public roads overseas, but their use in New Zealand has been limited.
Volvo announced plans to test an autonomous vehicle on public roads in Tauranga last year, while Christchurch International Airport began testing a fully driverless electric shuttle in January.
Both the ministry and the New Zealand Transport Agency are reviewing legislation to clarify the legality of testing driverless cars in New Zealand when it comes to liability.