MIT’s task force on the “Work of the Future”, has suggested that fully driverless automobiles will take at least ten years to deploy over large areas. The team also felt that the expansion will happen region-by-region in specific transportation categories, resulting in variations in availability across the country.
The MIT Task Force is an “institute-wide” effort to study the evolution of jobs during what the college characterizes as an “age of innovation.”
Among its other key findings:
- The AV transition will not be jobless. New opportunities will arise for employment, such as in the remote management of vehicles, but the quality of these jobs is uncertain, and depends somewhat on policy choices.
- AV should be thought of as one element in a mobility mix, and as a potential feeder for public transit rather than a replacement for it. However, unintended consequences such as increased congestion remain risks.
- AV operations will benefit from improvements to infrastructure, which can create positive spillover effects with respect to jobs, accessibility, and the environment. This includes not only traditional transportation infrastructure such as roads and bridges, but also information
- infrastructure such as communications systems, databases, and standards.
Some of the policy recommendations the MIT Task Force has made are investments investments in local and national infrastructure. It has also said public-private partnerships would ease the integration of automated systems into urban mobility systems.
The report said sustained investments in workforce training for advanced mobility will help drivers and other mobility workers transition into new careers that support mobility systems and technologies. These areas include software, robotics, testing, electrification, vehicle-to-infrastructure
communications, and human-machine interaction.
via: MIT
Image credit: MIT