Driverless Cabs Could Be Cheaper Than the Subway

Burney Simpson

A driverless ‘robo-taxi’ could cost 35 percent less than a conventional taxi, and may even be cheap enough to compete with mass transit, according to the new report ‘Robo-Taxis and the New Mobility‘ by Boston Consulting Group (BCG).

Commuters would probably be charged the cheapest robo-taxi rate because they would regularly schedule the vehicle in advance, travel from fixed start and end points, and share the ride with at least one other passenger, BCG reports. These taxis would offer a private compartment for each rider.

In its cost comparison, BCG uses an occupancy rate of 1.2 passengers per ride, the average rate for New York City cabs (See BCG chart above). A driverless robo-taxi carrying 1.2 passengers would cost $1.80 per passenger mile, compared with the $2.80 cost of a cab with driver, the research firm reports.

BCG found that a robo-taxi with two passengers would cost $1.10 per passenger mile, highly competitive with the $1 a mile cost for a subway ride. Theoretically, robo-taxis carrying commuters would be cheaper still if their operators received any of the local, state and federal funds that public transit receives.

Robo-taxi firms will be operated by ‘mobility providers’ – a mix of taxi companies, ride-sharing services, tech firms, and OEMs – that would rent their service either by the length of the ride or by the amount of time the vehicle is used.

BCG contends that robo-taxis would make ride-sharing services commonplace, reduce car ownership and congestion in urban areas, and even lower emissions.

For more on BCG’s research, see Driverless Transportation’s “Consumer Demand Will Bring Partial-Autonomous Driving Tech This Year: Study” on the firm’s ‘Revolution in the Drivers’ Seat: The Road to Autonomous Vehicles.’