Autonomous vehicles, parking, and urban spatial structure

This paper provides a theoretical analysis of the effects of autonomous vehicles (AVs) on the spatial structures of future cities. We consider two types of AVs, private AVs (PAVs) and shared AVs (SAVs). We assume that AVs have a lower marginal travel cost than human-driven traditional vehicles (TVs) due to additional utility caused by free activities in AVs, and PAVs have a lower marginal travel cost than SAVs due to better privacy and comfort. The land that SAVs release due to exemption of parking land is used for firm production and household residential uses. We also assume that the type of housing is regulated and designed by the government, and households rent houses from the government. Two urban spatial models, one for TVs and the other for PAVs / SAVs, accounting for the competition for land among firm production, household residence, and parking, are presented and compared. The government aims to determine the optimal housing sizes to maximize the social welfare of the city system. The finding shows that after introducing AVs, the city size may expand or shrink, depending on the marginal travel costs of AVs and the SAV market share in the AV market. The firm production rises for a full SAV city. Household utility and social welfare may increase or decrease, depending on the maturity level of AV technologies.