For a model of how govts will encourage a shift to new cars, look at what Britain is proposing to do now.
They want to encourage electric cars just to reduce smog.
When self-drive cars arrive, with far more obvious benefits, similar incentive schemes will be introduced.
Sunday Times 24 Jan 2016
ELECTRIC car drivers are to be given the same rights as ministers and Olympic officials to sweep past traffic jams in cities.
Battery-powered vehicles will be allowed to use bus lanes and park free in public bays as part of incentives to be announced tomorrow to boost sales and improve inner-city air quality.
Eight towns and cities will be given a share of £40m in government funding to become a “Go Ultra Low City”.
Milton Keynes, in Buckinghamshire, is expected to open up bus lanes to electric vehicles, give them the same priority at traffic lights as buses and offer free parking in 20,000 bays.
In Bristol electric cars will have access to carpool lanes, while in London they are promised parking and traffic priority.
Nottingham and Derby will offer lower parking fees and bus lane access.
Dundee, Oxford and York will also receive funding. Other measures to be introduced in the eight towns and cities include boosting the number of locations to recharge cars by converting streetlights into charging points.
In some areas, electric vehicles will be available for short-term hire.
Sources suggested that a scrappage scheme could be launched, offering incentives to drivers who replace their conventional car with a plug-in vehicle.
Ministers believe that electric car sales are close to reaching a tipping point where lower prices and increasing numbers of charging points and incentives mean that sales increase exponentially.
Future Incentives
Easy to predict incentives that can be adopted at little extra cost to councils:
Preferential lanes for self-drive cars (both in cities and on motorways).
Banning onstreet parking to discourage commuting in old type cars.
Fees or time restrictions for cars that aren't networked.
Seattle Feb 2016
Tuesday was a celebratory day in the Kirkland, Wash. government offices. After years of expressing interest, the Seattle suburb received word that Google would begin testing a self-driving vehicle on its streets.
“I’ve been pitching them for four years to pilot the car here,” said city manager Kurt Triplett. “We were thrilled. Our council was thrilled, our staff was thrilled that they finally reached a point where Kirkland was a place to try it.”
Triplett describes a strong, long-standing relationship between the local government and Google, which has a campus in the suburb. They’ve worked together to develop parks and trails for residents, and Triplett described the comfort level as useful.
Triplett said he’d meet every six months or so with Google representatives and toss in a reminder of Kirkland’s interest in driverless cars.
“They’ve always kind of chuckled and say ‘hey if we ever get to that point we’ll talk to you about it, but we’re not at that point,’” Triplett said.
Google has 18 U.S. offices in 12 states and the District of Columbia. Austin — it’s other test site for self-driving cars outside its Mountain View, Calif. headquarters — is also home to a Google outpost.
The location alongside Lake Washington was also appealing for Google given that its laws are friendly to autonomous vehicles. The sides met recently, according to Triplett, as Google wanted to make sure the vehicles would be welcome. Triplett said that Kirkland examined its codes and state law and found nothing preventing autonomous vehicles. Neither Kirkland nor the state of Washington have any rules or requirements specifically written for autonomous vehicles.
Self-driving cars in Kirkland will be treated like ordinary vehicles, and pulled over and ticketed in the event of any violations. Google has pledged that while testing it will have a licensed driver in its vehicles.
“They care more than anybody about the safety of these vehicles,” Triplett said. “They’re very gently easing into this. They want to make sure the community feels that they’re safe.”
He said tests will begin in an area of Kirkland called Juanita, given the challenge its hills will provide. The location also brings more annual rainfall than Google’s headquarters, providing another circumstance for the self-driving cars to master.
So what can other locations intrigued by driverless cars learn from Kirkland? The presence of a Google office is an advantage, plus a community — and legal environment — that are welcoming to the cars. Kirkland even asked if its infrastructure would need to be tweaked to facilitate the cars, but Google said no.