270 | SMART MOBILITY
Operation: future mobility Automated and connected driving will radically change the world of mobility. For better or worse, automated and connected vehicles will depend on the ‘intelligence’ of transportation technologies that have already been implemented Words | Daniel Hobohm, Siemens, Germany
Today, self-driving vehicles (SDV) may seem magical to many people, but they could a become reality faster than we expect. Not least because for the car industry, SDVs promise to be the biggest game changer since the Ford Model T. Many expect self-driving taxis to quickly replace driver-conducted taxis – simply because they do not ask for a salary. In the process, they will most likely also become cheaper and more convenient than most public transport services. Already today, Uber,
Intertraffic World | Annual Showcase 2018
Lyft and Gett collect and drop off customers in many major US cities. Meanwhile, the number of traffic deaths is rising. In the first six months of 2017, Germany counted 6.2% more road fatalities than in the years before. Worldwide, traffic kills more people than wars and terrorist attacks combined. Self-driving cars can react much faster than humans and they have permanent 360° vision. Visionary cities have recognized that SDVs have the potential to be more attentive than humans,
and see it as their responsibility – and opportunity – to support their development. These visionary cities are starting to manage traffic holistically, taking both the citizen’s perspective and the city’s budget into account. The cities focus on three key goals. Firstly, autonomous cars must also be connected cars, in order to facilitate traffic management and guidance. Connectivity is available already today, enabling bidirectional communications between transportation
