While self driving cars will do great things for people such as yourself (and overall I fully support their development/adoption), I also share the fear that it will prevent American urban centers from a desperately needed shift away from cars dependence in favor of better public transit and urban density. I really don't see the idea of every person in the country having their own personal transportation device (or even shared self-drivings car with something like uber) as a sustainable path for the US to continue down.
The technology for good transportation in/among major cities already exists: walking, biking, mass-transit, and high-speed rail. I wish Americans would be more open to these concepts rather than dismissing them in favor of the form of transit that has yielded nothing but horribly designed and polluted cities.
Actually, this maybe a step forward towards better mass transit, if there is one. If I run an autonomous taxi service to pick/drop people, and if I see that there is money to be made by offering to pick/drop multiple people at once, why wouldn't I? Economics of bus is relatively minor compared to investing and operating trains, so this may very well be a possibility.
A huge part of the urban footprint today is set aside for parking. With self-driving cars, people will use rideshare services and banish parking lots to remote areas outside the city, freeing up more space for parks or density. This technology is also much safer for bikers and walkers. Self-driving will be a benefit for urban areas and supports more walkable cities.
While self driving cars will do great things for people such as yourself (and overall I fully support their development/adoption), I also share the fear that it will prevent American urban centers from a desperately needed shift away from cars dependence in favor of better public transit and urban density. I really don't see the idea of every person in the country having their own personal transportation device (or even shared self-drivings car with something like uber) as a sustainable path for the US to continue down.
The technology for good transportation in/among major cities already exists: walking, biking, mass-transit, and high-speed rail. I wish Americans would be more open to these concepts rather than dismissing them in favor of the form of transit that has yielded nothing but horribly designed and polluted cities.