Last week, our Head of Research & Service Design, Ed Houghton was invited to give evidence to the Government’s Transport Select Committee on self-driving vehicles. There are significant consumer barriers to be overcome to shift gear from car ownership to usership, let alone to new self-driving models. For our latest blog, Ed suggests we consider what driving means to people – and how evolving trends and technologies could shape this in the future, but only if the public are at the heart of developing any new service.

Last week, I had the honour of presenting DG Cities’ research to the UK Parliament Transport Select Committee’s investigation into self-driving vehicles. Over several years, the team at DG Cities has been working hard to help government and industry better understand how self-driving services can be designed around the needs of diverse communities, and exploring if and how acceptance of self-driving services can be made more likely. Our work has looked closely at the major barriers facing the technology, and last week we were able to share and explain in more detail some of the key findings from our evidence submission in 2022. In a field of significant hype and excitement, our research has looked to ground technology in the realities of people’s daily lives, and to make what is often the preserve of sci-fi films more tangible.

Self-driving services are expected to deliver many benefits, including safer roads and a shift towards shared, more sustainable mobility. But direct engagement with consumers over several years has shown us there are several significant barriers that are likely to slow the pace of the technology’s adoption. Safety, trust, and accessibility all top the list of concerns for consumers – only a quarter (26.8%) say they would use a self-driving car tomorrow if they could. Consumers don’t yet see self-driving as part of their mobility.

Why is this important?

We know that mobility, and driving in particular, is an important aspect of many peoples’ lives. It might be the way they get to work – for some, it might be needed to unlock opportunities for better paid work. For those in the countryside with little or no access to buses due to impoverished public transport, driving might be the only way a family can get their children to school.

Not only is driving often economically beneficial, whether we like it or not, it also forms a large part of many people’s identity. Whether it’s the freedom that comes from learning to drive at 17, buying a car to accommodate a growing family, or losing the opportunity to drive due to ailing health, the act of driving, and the feelings related to it, can be associated with key stages in our lives. The 20th century saw the UK’s cities and wider society become increasingly car-centric, and research has shown that people place significant financial and non-financial value on their cars.[1] This makes moving from human-driven to AI-driven vehicles, and shifting away from single or even multiple car ownership, incredibly challenging to advance.

Where do we go from here?

This sets the stage for a difficult, but potentially transformative, transition for communities. We already see the concept of vehicle usership increasing in popularity, as young urban dwellers change their spending habits and look to micro-mobility and public transport to get about, with the occasional option of renting a shared vehicle. Car ownership declined for the second year running in 2022 – the first time this has happened in over a century.[2] And many expect this to continue.

The systems in which self-driving technologies are being deployed are complex. Infrastructure, regulation, public attitudes, insurance, data security and connectivity – all these components must be managed and maintained to enable acceptance and safe use of self-driving technology.

To overcome the many challenges ahead for industry and government, we will need to continue deep engagement with the public. We need to fully understand their perspective, and then design technologies and services around their needs. For a technology that plays such a central role in people’s lives, it would be hugely negative to not take account of the public’s ideas in developing new services. Failure to do so won’t just limit the chances of services being successfully adopted – at stake are also the many potential benefits of autonomy, which would remain unrealised.

Watch DG Cities’ formal submission to the UK Parliament Transport Select Committee.

[1] Haustein, S. (2021). The hidden value of car ownership. Nat Sustain 4, 752–753.

[2] SMMT (2022) UK Motorparc Data 2021. Accessed online: https://media.smmt.co.uk/uk-motorparc-data-2021/