Driver-less EVs fill all these needs. Being public transportation they make it easier to keep EVs on the road, it’s not your individual EV that needs to stop for a charge.

Being driver-less/short time ‘rentals’ they eliminate the parking problems of carsharing and rental cars. You wouldn’t have to travel to where they are in order to use them, they would come to you. And the closest to you would come to you. The closest with ample battery charge.

Just think of the benefit to people who live in the “wrong part of town” or who have the “wrong skin color” and find it pretty much impossible to get a taxi to pick them up.

I fully agree that we need more and better public transportation. Give people comfortable, efficient, affordable public transportation and they will drive less. But we also have to realize that there will be people who, for a variety of reasons, will choose to ride in a “private” car. People in “nice suits” who want to conduct business as they move around town do not ride the bus or bike.

We kill the fossil fuel monster by giving people acceptable, affordable alternatives to burning fossil fuel. A private, no driver, vehicle that meets you at your door and takes you to the door you want to travel to is likely to be a big winner.

-But this post was specifically about a poll regarding transit vs road projects. The US is far overdone on road projects compared to transit projects. We have promoted driving far too much compared to promoting efficient transportation options that work best most of the time in dense cities (where most people live). As a result, we waste billions or trillions of dollars a year and billions of hours a year sitting in traffic unproductively.

No one is advocating driving around in a huge vehicle as far as I can see. A compact, self-driven, electricity-powered option makes very big sense to me.

Think something the size of a SmartCar with all seats available for passengers, easy to get in and out of, good luggage/cargo space. Enter start location and time, enter destination, get back an ETA for the ride to show up at the curb with updates if problems arise. “Ding. Ding. We’re 30 seconds away.”

Even for those who just don’t want to ride with ‘you people’ might be more willing to leave their car at home or outside the difficult-to-park-in city if there was the option of a self-driven taxi. Just arrange for it to meet you where you want, get out where you want, no dealing with driving in city traffic, no need to park.

There could be options such as 1/2 person models, 3/4 person models, “bring home a mattress” models….

Those rare times that I use a taxi – often when I’ve got to haul more than is convenient on the bus/subway – I’d like to avoid dealing with taxi drivers. A self-driving taxi that wasn’t in a bad mood would be sweet.

Think about robotic taxis which could linger out of sight on less used side streets, then spring into action when someone wanted a ride from a specific spot to a specific spot on their time schedule. Self-driving ‘Zip cars’ always parked in front of where you are and able to be dropped off where you are going.

People with big loads, sick children, disabilities,tight schedules, the need for some privacy, etc. traveling to less served locations aren’t well served by subways and buses.

you can’t stuff a brick through the eye of a needle.