> A much better idea that doesn't run into issues of limited road space is of course is autonomous public transit.
I suspect you could argue that for metros and trains it already is largely automated. Surely the scheduling is at the very least supported by computer algorithms, or perhaps even automatically planned and then only manually overridden by human elements as needed?
Vancouver's skytrain light rail is fully automated (and thus achieves crazy short headways). Buses however aren't elevated from traffic and so of course they currently require a driver. If we had autonomous buses then a transit system would lower its labour costs, but I don't know what other potential gains there could be.
I suspect you could argue that for metros and trains it already is largely automated. Surely the scheduling is at the very least supported by computer algorithms, or perhaps even automatically planned and then only manually overridden by human elements as needed?