[joe_the_user]

I have a hard time imagining the combination of self driving cars and VR not having a DRAMATIC affect on cities.

Ah but what will that effect be? There's nothing about a self-driving car that increases road capacities. And since a self-driving car doesn't get bored or frustrated, there's less of a disincentive for a self-driving car to drive during rush hour. So it seems like if all else remains equal, self-driving cars are going to make traffic worse, not better (sure, if you could combine them with ride-sharing, they might reduce things but lyft and Uber right now could be ride-sharing but they aren't. No reason to expect a self-driving taxi would better unless something impels it).

[sliverstorm]

I'm with you, many folks seem to believe self driving cars will increase existing road capacity tenfold or something- I just don't see it. Once every car on the road is self driving they can maybe drive "too close" at speed, but overall there's still a limited amount of space on the pavement.

Now, if these self driving cars were high passenger capacity, that might have a great effect- but of course then we'd just call them a bus.

[skybrian]

I don't think anyone really knows, but say we have cheap taxis, ride sharing, driving "too close", and far fewer accidents? There's still a limit but it should be quite a bit higher.

[sliverstorm]

Trouble is the concept of induced demand, which roads enjoy in spades