The idea of self-driving cars is nothing new, the history of autonomous vehicles goes way back to 1939.

Norman Bel Geddes, an American industrial designer, who created the first self-driving car known as ‘Futurama’.

This was an electric vehicle guided by remote controlled electromagnetic fields generated with magnetised metal spikes embedded in the road.

This idea was then improved upon by the Japanese, who first used vehicles with a camera, the first models however, could not travel above 20mph.

Whilst the idea of driverless vehicles seems a fantasy for now, many vehicles currently on the road are already semi-autonomous.

Modern vehicles have a range of safety features such as assisted parking, lane detection and the ability to avoid low speed collisions, to aid drivers and improve safety.

Whilst the use of this technology is not yet widespread, most of these ideas will eventually be used in fully autonomous vehicles.

The race is on from the big tech companies to get their driverless cars on the road.

Many of them already have working prototypes. Most of the technology is still being tested, but is also waiting on Governments to allow it onto the roads.

Back in April the UK Government gave the go ahead for vehicles which use automated lane-keeping systems (ALKS) to be made legal to be used on the roads, by the end of the year.

The hesitation to allow driverless vehicles has been due to safety. However, as 94% of traffic accidents are due to human error, autonomous vehicles would surely make our roads safer.

The next decade could see a revolution in the way people and goods move.

This has already started with the switch from petrol and diesel vehicles to electric. Driverless vehicles will take this one step further.

Our towns and cities are clogged up with vehicles, the mass ownership of a personal vehicle has led to congested roads and pollution.

The future of transport should be electric, driverless and shared. Shared driverless cars could complement the existing public transport systems we have.

The first and last mile of most journeys cannot be done using the existing system.

Lack of coordination between the different modes of transport in many cities means many cannot ditch their cars.

Switzerland is leading the way in using driverless, electric vehicles integrated with existing transport to beat congestion.

Driverless buses are used to shuttle passengers to city transport hubs, from areas where there is no existing service.

They are also planning to introduce driverless vehicles to be used on demand from anywhere, even expanding to rural areas.

The future of the way we travel can change radically if we adopt an electric, green and shared vision.

The development of driverless vehicles and green public transport could mean we can all ditch our cars and make shared travel better connected for everyone.

Fully integrated, sustainable and efficient travel needs to be accessible to all.