As it stands now, Tulsa is not ready for driverless cars, but it doesn’t need to be right away.
INCOG transportation planner James Wagner said projections have the technology’s share of the automotive market at less than 2 percent by 2030, but it jumps to more than 30 percent by 2040.
"Those are all within the planning horizons of what we plan [for] infrastructure projects. Most of our infrastructure is built to last 50 years or more," Wagner said.
The things to focus on if Tulsa is going to be prepared for driverless cars are traffic signals and signs and lane markings, all of which the cars use to know what to do next. Driverless cars are currently best on highways rather than crowded urban areas, where pedestrians and other obstacles can confuse them.
Widespread adoption of driverless cars could make Tulsa a much different city. Transportation planners think they’ll increase road capacity and decrease congestion because they’ll drive more efficiently and make fewer mistakes than humans.
City Planner Theron Warlick said a driverless taxi system would make about 90 percent of parking spaces in Tulsa shopping centers unnecessary, paving — well, unpaving, really — the way for other developments.
"There might be more, smaller shops nearer to your house, which would actually reduce traffic even more," Warlick said. "But we might end up taking some of those places, and there might be new housing in there."
If driverless cars are the future of transportation, it may be time for Oklahoma to get on board. California, Nevada and Michigan are all making moves to be key players when they become a substantial share of the $2 trillion U.S. automotive industry.
Oklahoma could stand to diversify its economy, and Wagner said why not get in on or at least near the ground floor.
"Maybe some of this opportunity has already lapsed, but perhaps not," Wagner said. "I think on the manufacturing side, there may still be some opportunities."
