Self-Driving Cars Yield Big Benefits, Will Be in U.S. Cities by 2016

Self-Driving Cars Yield Big Benefits, Will Be in U.S. Cities by 2016 - Study

By Jose Serrano (staff@latinospost.com) | First Posted: Mar 06, 2015 12:17 PM EST

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Movies like "Back to the Future" haven't fulfilled promises of flying cars, but self-driving cars are the next best thing and they may be on the road as soon as 2016.

A study released by McKinsey & Company on Thursday detailed how fully autonomous cars could generate nearly $200 billions of dollars a year in revenue while reducing United States' vehicle crashes by as much as 90 percent. McKinsey projects owners to save up to 50 minutes a day, much of which could be spend surfing the internet.

Comet LLC, a consulting firm takes with commercializing driverless vehicles, aim to pilot projects in six to ten U.S. cities this year with an add 12 to 20 by year-end next year.

"We're looking at college campuses, theme parks, airports, downtown areas - places like that," Corey Clothier, a strategist for Comet LLC told The Observer." Clothier added, "People are very comfortable riding [self-driving cars]. It's kind of like an elevator: you go in, put in your destination, the doors close and you're off."

Among McKinsey's hypothesis are that 26 percent of parking spaces could be freed up, equaling the size of the Grand Canyon and Zion Park combined. Fewer parking tickets will be issued since the cars are programmed to park outside city centers. Additional free time could generate about $5.6 billion a year in digital revenue for each additional minute a driver spends online.

The race to create self-driving cars is on. Nissan hopes to field one by 2020, and Google already has a fleet of test vehicles in Nevada and California. Google X, the company's name for its running experiment, had already logged over 700,000 autonomous miles at this point last year.

Mercedes-Benz debuted their version - the F 015 Luxury in Motion -at the 2015 International Consumer Electric Show in Las Vegas in January. The F 015 has already been spotted roaming downtown San Francisco streets.

In Sept. 2014, Mercedes-Benz claimed to have become one of the first automotive manufactures to be issued with an official license by California to test automated vehicles on public roads.

Consumers anticipating a hands-free commute have quite a long wait ahead. McKinsey estimates self-driving cars won't dominate roads until 2030. Mass adoption isn't likely until about 2040.