ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with a breakdown of the measures used to assess their parameters. It examines the public health problems of conventional automobility, including air pollution, and the social sustainability opportunities they present for Autonomous Vehicle (AV) deployment. The chapter explores the conventional vehicle’s mobility inequities, including their disproportionate concentrations in some social groups. Leading parameters for assessing all social sustainability impacts are equity and equality. The most popularized potential gain of an AV deployment is that it will save lives and prevent injuries resulting from road crashes; this would make a meaningful contribution to social sustainability. Cautionary messages are accumulating about an AV “rush to market” and its resultant neglect of public health impacts. Public health experts increasingly are being prompted to get more engaged in investigating the potential consequences of the vehicles, including their ethical implications.
