Driving & Roadway Travel Expected to Change
Dramatically Over the Coming Decades, Study
Reveals
Over the coming decades, how we get around on the roads – and how many miles are being driven on U.S. roads – will dramatically change, according to the latest predictions from KPMG1.
“I’m not sure people understand the enormity of the change, nor are we ready for it,” KPMG National Automotive Leader Gary Silberg told Fortune Magazine in Nov. 2015.
The future, according to a team of KPMG’s advisors, will see fewer privately owned cars by millennials and more alternative forms of transportation, such as ride sharing options (e.g., Uber, Way-2-Go, Lyft, and Daimler’s car-sharing program).
The fundamental shift may be from ownership to access, with the predicted models of car operation and ownership in 10 to 20 years (or so) being:
- Privately owned electronic cars
- Privately owned self-driving car
- Car-sharing networks, for either driver-operated vehicles or self-driving vehicles.
Car-Sharing Programs
Car sharing seems to follow the model of short-term car rentals with weekly and sometimes hourly rates. The car-sharing phenomenon is happening all over the United States in thousands of cities.
Some current car-sharing services include City Car Club, JustRide, GoGet, Greenwheels, GoCar, Zoom, and Zipcar, to name a few. By 2012, Zipcar had already boasted more than three-quarters of a million members. That same year, there were nearly 2 million car-sharing members in 27 countries worldwide.
“The age of shared mobility is making great changes in perceptions,” says Dr. Susan Shaheen of UC Berkeley, adding: “Pushed primarily by demographic shifts, societal attitudes toward ownership, and advances in mobile technology, these modes are growing rapidly and becoming more numerous.”
Navigant Consulting, a global car-sharing service, estimates that there will be over 12 million car-share members worldwide and that revenue will be approximately $6.2 billion in 2020.
The Future of Cars and Auto Manufacturers
Industry experts expect car sales to follow the trend of technology, whereby consumers demand highly customized products, including more lavish models, more electronics incorporated, and an overall more interactive driving experience. One such sign of this trend is self-driving vehicles that many auto manufactures have already begun to test.
KPMG’s think tank is also convinced that, in a decade, large independent automakers will not be in the marketplace – at least not in the traditional sense. General Motors, perhaps seeing the writing on the wall, has invested $500 million in the ride-sharing startup Lyft.
Technology and Future of Car Experience
Traditional car manufacturers are already feeling the urge of the consumer electronics and have incorporated many of those ideas into cars. Here’s a list of future electronic experiences listed by industry insiders as something that will be in our future of automobile experiences:
- Key swapping technology allowing renters to unlock cars via an iPhone app
- Electronically-powered, self-driving vehicles
- Auto manufacturing trending more towards software and focusing less on engineering
- Electric cars having higher fixed costs but lower marginal costs.
Contact a St Louis Auto Accident Lawyer at Brown & Brown Attorneys at Law
While future trends in roadway travel and vehicles in the U.S. are interesting, if you’ve been hurt in a traffic crash, getting experienced legal representation ASAP can be essential to your financial recovery – and your overall recovery.
To find out more about your recovery options following a car accident, contact an experienced St Louis auto accident lawyer at Brown & Brown Attorneys at Law. Our attorneys have a long-standing commitment to serving our clients, and we are experienced at aggressively defending our clients’ rights in any legal setting.
To learn more about how we can help you, attend a free, no obligations initial consult with a St Louis auto accident lawyer at Brown & Brown. You can schedule this meeting by calling us at 573-333-3333 for our Missouri office or at 618-888-8888 for our Illinois office. You can also email us using the form at the right-hand side of the screen.
