The “self-driving car” narrative is less a near-term transportation solution than a set of overpromises with significant social costs. A recurring theme is induced demand: making car travel easier (whether by adding road capacity or by automating the driving task) tends to increase the total amount of driving, which can wipe out hoped-for gains in safety, congestion, and emissions. Even “perfect” autonomy could still mean more vehicle miles traveled, more pollution, and more exposure to crashes at the system level. Cars are inherently dangerous machines, and autonomy turns “safe driving” into an outsourced responsibility with weak governance.

Articles / Blog posts

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/why-autonomous-vehicles-fail-brooke-krieger-mpa-jmnre

What a 160-year-old theory about coal predicts about our self-driving future

https://www.theverge.com/2024/9/2/24232386/self-driving-car-jevons-paradox-robotaxi-waymo-cruise

Opinion: Self-driving cars are part of an American tradition: letting private companies sell products to fix problems

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-self-driving-cars-are-part-of-an-american-tradition-letting-private/

Autonomous cars would worsen road congestion, study finds

https://eandt.theiet.org/content/articles/2023/01/autonomous-cars-would-worsen-road-congestion-study-finds/

Ford-VW driverless car venture folds in face of tech challenges

https://www.ft.com/content/4afc571f-2dae-4f33-944a-c217397c3f91

Biden's $1.2 Trillion Infrastructure Bill Hastens Beacon Wearing For Bicyclists And Pedestrians To Enable Detection By Connected Cars

https://www.forbes.com/sites/carltonreid/2021/11/06/bidens-12-trillion-infrastructure-bill-hastens-beacon-wearing-for-bicyclists-and-pedestrians-to-enable-detection-by-connected-cars

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-10-12/the-dangerous-promise-of-the-self-driving-car?srnd=premium-asia