The defining feature of the popular discussion of driverless cars is the failure to address the wider social and political impacts of the technology, from increased state control of movement to the joys of drunk-driving. When the economic impacts have been addressed, they have largely been situated in a land of pure fantasy (the realm of rational utility maximisers) where social class does not exist and radical reorganisations of the urban space happen by fiat.
Asleep at the Wheel - Many of the collective benefits, such as increased road capacity and lower (possibly non-existent) driver insurance, will only arrive when automated cars are mandatory and the non-automated outlawed ...
The Return of the Bubble Car - I suspect the most likely scenario is that they first become mandatory within a city's limits. This will create a de facto border zone, opening up possibilities for the control of movement into and out of the heart of the metropolis ...
Dragnet - Though we associate the growth of car-ownership and the highway system in postwar America with freedom, the reality was increased state surveillance and control, which has an obvious analogue with the Internet of today ...
Driving Me Crazy - Driverless cars will initially be little more than a futuristic version of the sedan chair. Found largely in city centres, employed mainly by the well-off, and possessing the properties of a limousine: quiet, smooth, and with a built-in screen and minibar ...
A Genuinely Interesting Post About Car Insurance - The motor insurance industry isn't going to disappear because of driverless cars, but it is likely to change radically ...
Other links ...
David Mindell of MIT points out that the historic trajectory of transport is not towards autonomous vehicles but remote-control.
Ben Thompson at Stratechery thinks that the immediate future will be semi-autonomous cars, which means Tesla, Mercedes etc: "Just like with electric cars, it seems likely the revolution will be gradual and from the high-end".
