How Can Transit Compete With the Coming Onslaught of Driverless Cars?

[marmar]

from McClatchy, via MassTransitMag:



March 19--One of the arguments against light rail is that it's old technology.

Some opponents point to the arrival of driverless cars in the next decade as a public-transit killer.

"Why would you take a fixed route anywhere," the argument goes, "if you can jump into a driverless car that can take you anywhere?"

So, can public transit compete against driverless tech?

A post from Jarrett Walker, a public transit consultant and blogger, landed in my inbox this week. He argues that transit will always have a place in dense cities.

In his blog, "Human Transit," Walker writes that mass transit will remain crucial in places defined by a shortage of space per person. Mass transit, where densities are high enough to support it, is an immensely efficient use of space, he says. ...........(more)

http://www.masstransitmag.com/news/12184385/getting-around-how-can-public-transit-compete-with-the-coming-onslaught-of-driverless-cars