Toyota Motor Corp. is cautioning that the appeal of autonomous cars carries the risk of adding to urban sprawl and pollution, as they may encourage commuters to travel farther to work.
Technologies that let a driver turn vehicle controls over to the car itself should begin arriving late this decade, said Ken Laberteaux, senior principal scientist for Toyota's North American team studying future transportation. Faster commutes can bring unintended consequences, Laberteaux said in an interview at the Automated Vehicles Symposium in San Francisco on Wednesday.
"U.S. history shows that anytime you make driving easier, there seems to be this inexhaustible desire to live further from things," Laberteaux said. "The pattern we've seen for a century is people turn more speed into more travel, rather than maybe saying 'I'm going to use my reduced travel time by spending more time with my family.' "