Few doubt that the autonomous vehicle (AV) will come and that the self driving car will be a certain reality. The only question is when. Meanwhile there are many questions about what those vehicles will mean for cities. I was reminded of this when the $2.9 billion Baltimore Red Line rail transit project was stopped in the last minute before construction and someone commented that the AV would have arrived before the Red Line would have been completed in 2021 anyway and would have made it obsolete before it was operational.  Would AVs substitute for transit? Kill cities or enhance them? How can we know?

AV operations are inherently different from human-driven vehicles. They may be programmed to not break traffic laws. They do not drink and drive. Their reaction times are quicker and they can be optimized to smooth traffic flows, improve fuel economy, and reduce emissions. They can deliver freight and unlicensed travelers to their destinations. Daniel J. Fagnant, Kara Kockelman, The University of Texas at Austin 2013

Advertisement from 1957 for "America's Independent Electric Light and Power Companies" (art by H. Miller).  Text with original: "ELECTRICITY MAY BETHE DRIVER. One day your car may speed along an electric super-highway,  its speed andsteering automatically controlled by electronic  devices embedded in the road. Highways will be made safe-by electricity! 

The experimental Google AV

Will these attributes help to foster the renaissance of American cities that we observed in recent years .....