Driverless Cars Will Trigger a Home Building Renaissance, Says New MIT Report

Government at the local, state, and federal levels, real estate developers, and MIT researchers are envisioning how driverless cars will affect the construction industry's near future. A new study by the urban research and advocacy group Regional Plan Association anticipates New York's land use planning will not be permanently altered to suit driverless cars until 2040. 

MIT's Center for Real Estate's new report examines how land and buildable space would be repurposed as real estate developers eye parking structures, auto dealerships, and gas stations, rethinking these sites as car ownership is phased out. Bloomberg reports that other potential effects of driverless cars on the housing market is an uptick in the remodeling industry as more and more homeowners age in place, expanded suburban sprawl, and fluctuation of home value depending on region.

It’s far from clear how long it will be before fully autonomous vehicles are ready to rule the road, or how governments will choose to regulate them. The 25 biggest U.S. cities generated a combined $5 billion last year from parking tickets, vehicle registrations, and other related revenue, according to data compiled by Governing magazine. 

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