Self-driving technology could be a game changer for urban traffic systems, according to a recent study.

Researchers at Sweden's KTH The Royal Institute of Technology looked at how the Swedish capital's transport grid could be transformed. A fleet of shared self-driving cars in Stockholm could reduce rush hour traffic volumes by 14 cars for every shared vehicle. Meanwhile, the remaining automobile commuters would need only 20 percent of the metropolitan area's existing parking spaces.

The study sheds further light on what can happen if cities build on the growing interest in car-share programs and other alternatives to car ownership, indicating that self-driving technology could be a game-changer.

"Driverless cars are the smart car, and just as revolutionary as the smart phone," Pierre-Jean Rigole of KTH Centre for Traffic Research said in a statement. "They will revolutionize car ownership, lead to more flexible traffic, with far fewer crashes. And they will free up valuable space in cities that is currently occupied by parked cars."

For the study, researchers looked at the possibility of a fleet of 9,700 Shared Autonomous Vehicles (SAV) with four seats each being introduced to the Stockholm metropolitan region, where an estimated 136,000 automobiles are driven in the daily commute.

Already in Stockholm taxi traffic accounts for half the total traffic, with about 272,000 such trips daily.