Autonomous vehicles are predicted to enter the consumer market in less than a decade. There is currently no consensus on whether their presence will have a positive impact on users and society. The skeptics of automation foresee increased congestion, whereas the advocates envision smoother traffic with shorter travel times. In this paper, we study the automation controversy and advise policymakers on how and when to promote autonomous vehicles.
Link to article PDF: “The Economics of Autonomous Vehicles: Will AVs improve social welfare — or create unprecedented congestion? The jury is still out.” by Opher Baron, Oded Berman and Mehdi Nourinejad, Rotman Management, Winter 2019, The Disruptive Issue II.
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Dr. Mehdi Nourinejad received his PhD in Transportation/Mobility Management at University of Toronto in 2017. He quickly moved into a postdoctoral research fellowship at Rotman School of Management and is also teaching as an adjunct professor at Ted Rogers School of Management at Ryerson University. Mehdi’s research focuses on optimal planning and control of sustainable transportation systems in smart cities with autonomous vehicles.