Survey shows young people are excited about driverless cars

Published 1:30 am Sunday, July 31, 2016

We’ve done a lot of wandering this busy summer and collected some interesting transportation topics along the way.

On one trip, we rode along in a Tesla Model X. The driver turned around to face us, raised his hands in question, and asked if one of us could park the car — as the car parallel parked itself. It was just one of the hands-free tricks the smart car could do (besides look DeLorean-like cool).

Tesla is among the automakers creating the first wave of partially autonomous cars.

But are we ready for fully autonomous vehicles?

The Puget Sound Regional Council took a look in its 2015 Travel Survey.

The agency tested the level of interest for seven possible uses for autonomous vehicles, such as taking a taxi ride with no driver present or commuting in such a vehicle.

They also asked how concerned respondents were to five potential issues, such as safety, legal liability, security and more.

They found that the young are interested, and that those age 75 to 84 are more reticent. You can get a deeper look at blog.psrc.org.

One area that had less interest across all age groups? Commuting in an autonomous vehicle with others.

Like toll lanes, a rise in driverless technology could mean more single-occupant vehicles on commuting corridors.

Eliminating congestion even with more cars on the road? Now that would be the coolest trick.

Have a question? Email us at streetsmarts@heraldnet.com. Please include your first and last name and city of residence. Look for updates on the Street Smarts blog.