Earlier quoted context omitted.
> The economies of scale you get by packing people in larger vehicles mostly have to do with the cost of fuel and staffing. Trains (and train-like options such as metros) are vastly more efficient than cars in number of people moved per unit of time per area used. That might not be a big deal in suburbia, but in dense inner cities it's one of the most important drivers of public transport.
Autonomous vehicles could chain up or drive really close together and achieve similar space efficiency. Also, if you look at a train track. It's mostly empty space with a train passing occasionally. Very different than a well used road. And autonomous vehicles could collaborate to counter any congestion. What makes trains efficient has more to do with the cost of energy and drivers than anything else. Both of those g…
2. They will need stop some time. Where? Will this block the street?
3. They won’t all go to the same place so there will be delays at junction and side streets
4. No margin for error wouldn’t fly in practice, so the cars cannot be that close together
5. How will pedestrians cross a train of cars?
I just don’t see how this all adds up. Automation doesn’t remove the space constraints of cars in cities.