The travel and environmental implications of shared autonomous vehicles, using agent-based model scenarios

University of Texas, January 1, 2014

Carsharing programs that operate as short-term vehicle rentals (often for one-way trips before ending the rental) like Car2Go and ZipCar have quickly expanded, with the number of U.S. users doubling every one to two years over the past decade. Such programs seek to shift personal transportation choices from an owned asset to a service used on demand. The advent of autonomous or fully self-driving vehicles will address many current carsharing barriers, including users’ travel to access available vehicles.

http://www.caee.utexas.edu/prof/kockelman/public_html/TRB14SAVenergy_emissions.pdf