Adelaide to be transformed when driverless cars squeeze into tiny roads and car parks

ENTIRE car parks will disappear and others shrink dramatically as driverless cars squeeze into tiny spaces in the home, on the streets and at the shopping centre. This is Adelaide of the future, according to one design expert.

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IMAGINE a city free from congestion and pollution; the absence of multi-level carparks and going to work in fleets of driverless vehicles.

A future Adelaide would be unrecognisable as the footprint of cars in the current cityscape shrinks, according to Principal of international design studio, Hassell, David Homburg.

“Think about how the bus lanes for example will become redundant, because as buses approached from behind, cars would leave the lane ahead to give way and allow it to pass through,’’ he said.

Mr Homburg is one of more than 150 global experts who will be part of the 20th Festival of Ideas, starting on Thursday.

The biggest changes will be created by the ability of driverless cars to complete millimetre-perfect parking.

Chancellor of Flinders University Stephen Gerlach (L) and SA Minister for Transport, the Hon. Stephan Knoll are seen unveiling the Flex Autonomous vehicle at Tonsley Park in Adelaide. Picture: AAP

Speaking at the UniSA Bradley Forum on Sunday, Mr Homburg said that this would change the size of a carpark from about 2.6m in width to about 1.8m.

He said private driverless car ownership in cities would eventually disappear, replaced by company and government vehicle fleets that will drop-off and pick-up on demand.

Among the predictions are shopping centres circled by gardens instead of hundreds of vehicle zones, demolition of multi-level carparks and residential garages.

Mr Homburg said the changes could be expected over the next 20 years, and planning ahead was essential.

“At the metropolitan level, the whole transport system could be different, potentially making currently planned infrastructure such as trams redundant’’.

Mr Homburg told The Advertiser some changes would be the opposite of what people expected.

“Cities such as Adelaide could become even more spread out as the car becomes a workplace,” he said.