Car-congested cities could become a thing of the past, provided people are prepared to ride-share with a robot driver.

A new study claims these 'taxibots' could cut the number of cars needed to perform the same number of journeys per day by 90 per cent.

The finding comes amid reports that companies such as Google and Uber are working on technology to develop driverless taxis.

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Car-congested cities could become a thing of the past, provided people are prepared to ride-share with a robot driver. Pictured is an interior view of a Google self-driving car showing the video and the data the car uses to 'see' the road. Google is believed to be working on technology for self-driving cabs, but hasn't revealed details

The study, by Paris-based Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development used data from Lisbon in Portugal.

By plugging the data into a computer model, they simulated how such self-driving, communal cabs would affect traffic.

Even with only one passenger per ride and no complementary public transport, the number of cars still dropped by 77 per cent.

The authors said replacing personal cars with self-driving cabs would also free valuable real estate currently used for public parking - equivalent to over 200 football pitches in Lisbon’s case.

Major technology firms are already banking on self-driving taxis to be the future of transportation.

Even with only one passenger per ride and no complementary public transport, the number of cars still dropped by 77 per cent. In this image is one Google's autonomous vehicles pictured with Google Chairman Eric Schmidt (left) and US Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx (right)

Last year, for instance, ride-sharing service Uber said it could replace all of its drivers with autonomous vehicles.

CEO Travis Kalanick admitted the technology would keep costs down, and these savings could then be passed on to its customers.

HOW SAFE ARE DRIVERLESS CARS? Corey Clothier, who is co-ordinating the trials told DailyMail.com that an accident involved a driverless car is inevitable - although he added none have taken place in his pilots. 'Systems will fail, people's judgements will fail,' he said. 'If someone jumps out from a blind spot from a vehicle, if it can't stop, it can't stop.' A recent report by the Institution of Engineering and Technology highlighted research that showed human drivers change their behaviour when using the same roads as autonomous cars. Motorists were found to copy the driving style of the computer controlled cars by leaving less space between them and the vehicle in front, but were less able to react quickly. However, many experts say that driverless cars could actually reduce the risk of accidents as computers are able to react a lot faster than humans. Google has also been teaching its vehicles to drive more safely by giving them instructions on 'defensive driving' styles. They have also been experimenting with teaching the vehicles 'body language' to communicate with other drivers what its intentions are. Advertisement

Speaking at the Code Conference in California, Kalanick said: ‘The reason Uber could be expensive is because you're not just paying for the car - you're paying for the other dude in the car.

‘When there's no other dude in the car, the cost of taking an Uber anywhere becomes cheaper than owning a vehicle.’

Google was an early backer of the San Francisco-based firm, investing $258 million (£170 million) in the controversial ride-sharing service through its venture capital arm in August 2013.

But last month unnamed source told Bloomberg that Google is preparing to offer its own taxi service, and it was likely to use its driverless cars.

The report said that Google had told Uber's board of this possibility, and executives had seen screenshots of what appears to be a Google ride-sharing app, currently being used by employees.

While driverless taxis are still some way off from becoming a reality, a separate report last month found they could soon find their way into our airports and campuses.

Ten US cities will roll out automated vehicle pilot projects this year, with the first being unveiled in Tampa Bay, Florida in the spring.

Meanwhile, trials will launch in another 12 to 20 US locations by the end of next year, which means driverless cars could be on the roads in up to 30 US cities by 2017.

As well as the US, the UK will also be trialing the vehicles in Greenwich as part of the $9 million project called Gateway, shuttling people to the O2 Arena.

The finding comes amid reports that companies such as Google and Uber are working on technology to develop driverless taxis

Some will be on the roads where it's legal,' Corey Clothier, a strategist Comet LLC, who is running the trials told DailyMail.com.

Passengers can set their destination on some of the vehicles by typing it into a map or using commands.

A combination of radar, lasers gives the car a 360-degree 'view', with sensors linked to computer software able to 'see' and identify people, cars, road signs and markings and traffic lights.

'It's interesting to see people's reactions', said Clothier. 'Very few are nervous, or noticeably nervous.

'We've had interesting reactions from non-riders too. We were in the Silicon Valley and we had hundreds of people step in front of the vehicle to see what would happen.'

'The vehicles stopped. We've never had an accident.'