Austin’s population has been skyrocketing within the past few years, and in order to keep up with the increased number of people on the road, city planners created a proposal to expand roads and highways. In April 2023, the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) proposed the creation of a roadway for autonomous vehicles by repurposing the currently unused and deserted stretch of road known as the Missouri-Kansas-Texas (MoKan) railway. The plan would be to name the new route the Mobility for Connected and Automated Vehicles or MoCAV corridor, and it would be designed specifically for cars that do not require a driver for operation.
According to local civil engineer Brian Gettinger, Austin’s government officials have always been willing to solve traffic issues in ways that are sometimes out of the ordinary. For example, the $674 million ongoing Oak Hill Parkway project is a huge investment that will greatly affect the lives of many citizens of Austin and neighboring towns like Dripping Springs by making transportation less stressful. According to the Oak Hill Parkway website, the plan includes the building of a new roadway with two to three lanes in either direction and many accommodations for pedestrians and bikers. Additionally, the roadway would have a stormwater detention pond, water quality treatment ponds, new landscaping, and a beautified corridor. Even though some of these ideas can be innovative and beneficial, creating an autonomous roadway is not something that will be beneficial to Austin and its surrounding cities.
Since the roadway would run through Austin, Pflugerville, Round Rock, and Georgetown, the plan could potentially affect many different people throughout the greater Austin area. Due to this, the city’s capital planning organization decided to suspend all discussions of approving any proposals until the public was able to have a say in the decisions moving forward. Although the pitch was removed from the city’s agenda, there is still a great possibility that in about two years, the city will start building the roadway in the MoCAV corridor, which could have numerous negative effects on Austin’s drivers, roadway safety, traffic, and local nature trails.
Driverless cars have proven to be unreliable. Cars from companies like Cruise and Gyno have started to pop up around the downtown Austin area in the past few months. Many car crashes involving autonomous cars turning into bike lanes, causing car crashes, and stopping traffic at stoplights have occurred across Austin. Self-driving cars can also be distracting to drivers on the road. If a person is not aware of the new autonomous vehicles, seeing an empty front seat may cause concerns to arise about where the passengers are, showing that self-driving cars can be distracting and dangerous.
Earlier, in September, Austinites from East Austin petitioned for the removal of self-driving cars. After the University of Texas at Austin (UT) football game was finished, a traffic jam occurred involving over 20 Cruise self-driving cars. According to the National Law Review, autonomous vehicles have more than double the crash rate of human-driven ones. With more self-driving cars on the road, the city becomes even more dangerous. If the roadway is sent into effect, Austinites face potential harm every day when using it.
The MoCAV corridor would also harm natural spaces in Austin, as it paves over parts of the Southern Walnut Creek Trail with a four lane road. This specific trail is an East Austin treasure, and all of the lush greenspace would be disrupted and polluted if the roadway was built, making it harder for locals to enjoy the dwindling greenspaces of our growing city. Animals would inevitably be hit by cars and die, litter would accumulate on the shoulders, and hikers would be disincentivized to continue using the trail.
It is relieving to know that government officials have decided to temporarily postpone discussions of a proposed roadway that could harm Austinite drivers and restrict their access to local hiking trails. However, as automatic technology evolves and increases in popularity, more self-driving vehicle roadways will be proposed and built, and will not only endanger Austinites, but change the delicate balance of urbanization and nature in our city forever.
