Autonomous vehicles will spur moving budget from railroads to roads

PurposeNowadays, transportation authorities in various countries are in tension as to whether to invest in railroads or roads. There are arguments for each side, and in the end, each transportation authority reaches a kind of balance between the investments. This study aims to anticipate how autonomous vehicles will influence this decision.Design/methodology/approachThe roads' capacity in the era of autonomous vehicles is assessed and research has concluded that the anticipated increase in road capacity will encourage transportation authorities to invest much more in roads than in railroads.FindingsThe appearance of the autonomous vehicles will significantly change the balance in favor of the roads, because the roads' capacity will be increased substantially so the roads will be able to accommodate many more vehicles.Research limitations/implicationsCurrently, autonomous vehicles are still very rare.Practical implicationsThe impact of autonomous vehicles on the decision whether to build more roads is explained.Originality/valueThe study explained why the transportation authorities in the various countries will be more inclined to switch to road construction and why the transition to more roads and fewer railroads will likely be done gradually as more autonomous vehicles enter service.