More than 25 renowned transport researchers met at TU Dresden on 3 and 4 May 2023 for a workshop on "Transport policy in the age of autonomous vehicles". The workshop is part of a German Research Foundation (DFG)-funded research project led by Prof. Dr. Georg Hirte and Dr. Stefan Tscharaktschiew (both Chair of Economics. esp. Transport Policy and Spatial Economics atTU Dresden).

Keynote by Erik Verhoef from VU Amsterdam

After a brief introduction by the host Georg Hirte, a keynote by the world-renowned expert for transport economics Erik Verhoef (VU Amsterdam) followed. In his presentation on “Autonomous driving with feedback and rebounds” he made very clear which benefits are to be expected from AV – and which are not. By analyzing feedback effects such as behavioral adaptation, he concluded with a warning of too much optimism with respect to potential AV benefits.

Erik Verhoef, world-renowned expert in transport economics from VU Amsterdam gave a keynote speech at the beginning of the workshop on the topic: "Autonomous driving with feedbacks and rebounds".

© Andrea Surma

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Prof. Georg Hirte (l.), Head of the Chair of Economics. esp. Transport Policy and Spatial Economics at TU Dresden, opened the workshop and welcomed the guest Erik Verhoef (M.) from VU Amsterdam.

© Andrea Surma

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The keynote was followed by 15 presentations by predominantly international guests on current research. In the fruitful discussions, it got clear that autonomous vehicles have the potential to revolutionize the entire transport sector. However, it also became evident that the gain in public welfare crucially depends on well-designed policies. Many potential problem fields were identified throughout the event, and ideas were proposed for a future-oriented transport policy.

The workshop has created a unique forum: Not only could participants discuss about exclusively AV-related policies intensively, but it was also a great opportunity to network with other researchers in this field. To facilitate this, the workshop was complemented by social activities.

The program was organized by the Chair of Economics, esp. Transport Policy and Spatial Economics (Institute of Transport and Economics). Funding was provided by the German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, DFG, grant number 434191927).