Automated driving technology along with electric propulsion are widely expected to fundamentally
change our transport systems. They may not only allow a more productive use of travel
time, but will likely trigger completely new business models in the mobility market. A key determinant
of the future prospects of both existing and new mobility services will be their production
costs. Hence, in this research the production costs of various transport modes both today
and in an automated-electric future are analyzed. To account for different local contexts, the
study is conducted for 17 cities across the globe. The results indicate that high-income countries
will benefit the most from vehicle automation, while only smaller changes can be expected in
lower-income countries. This is due to the different relative contribution of labor cost to the total
cost of current taxi and bus operations. In a likely final state, transportation costs will be largely
decoupled from a country’s income level, which will favor productivity in higher-income
