Autonomous vehicle (AV) technology represents a possible paradigm shift in our way of life. But complex challenges and obstacles impose a reality at odds with the utopian visions propounded by AV enthusiasts in the private and public sectors.
 
The new volume in the Urban Agenda series examines the technological questions still surrounding autonomous vehicles and the uncertain societal and legislative impact of widespread AV adoption. Assessing both short- and long-term concerns, the authors probe how autonomous vehicles might change transportation but also land use, energy consumption, mass transit, commuter habits, traffic safety, job markets, the freight industry, and supply chains. At the same time, the essays discuss opportunities for industry, researchers, and policymakers to make the autonomous future safer, more efficient, and more mobile.
 
Contributors: Austin Brown, Stan Caldwell, Chris Hendrickson, Kazuya Kawamura, Taylor Long, and P. S. Srira.

Michael A. Pagano is Dean of the College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs, Director of the Government Finance Research Center, and a professor of public administration at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). He is a fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration, nonresident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution, and editor of The People's Money: Pensions, Debt, and Government Services, The Public Infrastructure of Work and Play, and other books in the Urban Agenda series.