Level 4 autonomous vehicles will eliminate the need for a traditional vehicle driver; including those in the taxi, ride-sharing, chauffeur and bus industries.
OBSERVATIONS
- 654,300 people employed as bus drivers in 2012 generating $19.3 billion of compensation. Source
- 220,000 people employed as taxi and chauffeur drivers in 2012 generating $5.3 billion of compensation. Source
- 160,000 people drive for UBER Source
- 12,400 limousine companies operating 126,000 vehicles. Source
FUTURE IMPACT
- Level 3: A human occupant is required in the taxi or bus while the computer has control of most driving functions. Significant reduction in crashes and moving violations.
- Level 4: Human driver eliminated. Vehicles redesigned to act as autonomous single- and multiple-passenger vehicles.
- Maximizing capacity utilization will significantly reduce the number of cars and buses on the road.
- Majority of the 1 million jobs in the industry eliminated.
SUPPORTING MATERIALS
- RoboCab: Driverless Taxi Experiment to Start in Japan
- Once a sure bet, taxi medallions becoming unsellable
- Amazon Air unmanned aerial vehicle program
- Yutong completes world’s first trial operation of unmanned bus.
