Dr. Martin Hash Podcast

The argument against driverless cars is similar to protectionism arguments: what about the jobs? And the foes are also similar too: unions, environmentalists who don't like cars in the first place, and socialists who want all people treated the same which is code for mass transit. Foes also include conservatives & other Luddites who are afraid of advancing technology & would rather it happened after they were dead. However, nothing is going to stop the coming of driveless cars because they make sense for a multitude of reasons: they will reduce commuter traffic congestion & improve safety with better driving. Also, driverless cars can replace mass transit because they are more convenient, secure, and they pickup & deliver on target which is better for the handicapped & elderly.

Special Interests are going to be dogging every State legislature & City council against driverless cars. It's going to take some federal level action to break status quo., and in fact, a $60 million prize is waiting for the city that designs the best plan for driverless cars, after which the Dept of Transportation will subsidize other cities across the nation to adopt it. 78 cities participated in the contest: for example, Columbus, Ohio’s plan is to build a network of on-demand driverless shuttles for seniors and the disabled, WiFi kiosks would check routes and take fares, transmitters would be installed on thousands of city owned vehicles to automatically route around traffic incidents and major events, and it would gradually expand to include all potential commuters who would find things easier, more convenient & cheaper to simple indicate their travel plans on a smart-phone app and let technology do the rest.