Yoram Shiftan explores the implications of automated vehicles

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Dr. Yoram Shiftan answers questions after his UT-ITE seminar on November 22, 2017.

Dr. Yoram Shiftan presented a special distinguished guest lecture for the UT-ITE seminar series at the University of Toronto on November 22, 2017.

He gave a broad overview of automated vehicles (AVs) exploring issues, opportunities, and research approaches.

See Professor Shiftan’s presentation file PDF for Travel Behavior Implications of Automated Vehicles.

There are many issues when it comes to modelling demand such as actual and perceived safety, insurance responsibility, cyber security, ethical programming, cost, and emerging services (e.g. ride-sharing). For example, some studies suggest that ride-sharing causes an increase in congestion and decrease in public transit use. Other issues include the efficient use of time when not driving, addition of new users who previously could not drive, design of vehicles for more leisure, concern over the tendency to walk less, and ownership proportions.

From a research point of view, Dr. Shiftan questioned the assumptions made in most models due to the population’s general lack of knowledge and experience about AVs.  He also discussed the typology of approaches followed by most studies, such as stated preference surveys.

He noted that current literature on AVs is focused more on supply rather than demand.

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Yoram Shiftan, UT-ITE seminar, November 22, 2017 (Photo: T. Romancyshyn)

Abstract

The introduction of fully automated vehicles will catalyze changes in travel behavior and activity participation. Automated vehicles may affect the value of travel time, the amount of travel time, and the quantity and type of vehicle purchases. Additionally, automated vehicles may make travelers willing to commute and travel longer distances, increasing the accessibility of activities that are further away, and impact long term life decisions such as where to live and work, thereby impacting land-use, necessitating additional planning.

Traditional approaches that are currently being employed are limited, because they either focus on safety and human factors rather than travel behavior (driving simulators; controlled test beds), assume travel behavior implications (micro-simulators; network analysis), or ask about hypothetical scenarios that are too unfamiliar to the subjects (stated preference studies). New methods and creative techniques for behavioral experiments are necessary, for example creative applications of stated preferences, focus groups, simulators, analogous modes, gaming, and virtual reality.

This presentation will discuss the travel behavior implications of fully automated vehicles, the methods to model them, and some initial results and recommendations. The presentation is based on three workshops co-organized by the author on this topic, the 2015 International Association of Travel Behavior (IATBR) conference, and the 2016 and 2017 Automated Vehicle Symposium.

Short Biography

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Yoram Shiftan is a Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering in the Technion, and the head of Technion Transportation Research Institute, currently an Israel Institute Visiting Faculty at Northwestern University. Professor Shiftan teaches and conducts research in travel behavior with a focus on activity-based modeling and response to policies, the complex relationships between transport, the environment and land use, transport economics and project evaluation. He is the editor of Transport Policy and was the chair of the International Association of Travel Behavior Research (IATBR). Professor Shiftan received his PhD from MIT and since then has published dozens of papers and co-edited four books: “Transportation Planning” in the series of Classics in Planning; Transition Towards Sustainable Mobility: The Role of Instruments, Individuals and Institutions; Sustainable Urban Transport; and Securing Transportation Systems.


This seminar was presented by the University of Toronto Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) Student Chapter.