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Not to be mean spirited but I will continue raise issues and ask for hard data so that when it comes to selling the project to government and the public there will be ready answers. This inspires confidence in an age of scandal such Enron. Many of us are not comfortable with handing Washington carte blanc for more major projects.
The May 2012 Popular Science has an excellent article "Taking the Wheel" on the reliability and liability of automated vehicles (see page 38). Having been an advocate of vehicle and driver safety for over forty years I can see the need to reduce driver error. The reality will be that many but not all roads will be so equipt. Mostly suburban commuters will be primary users. Limiting or avoid heavy truck traffic is a major issue. Children in the street or deer present the most random behavior to be evaded. Lane switching and removing disabled vehicles should be fairly easy.
Constructing and maintaining roadways is well developed technology but even reinforced concrete breaks up eventually from repeated load and thermal cycles. The closest thing I know to a permanent road is the Roman road made from thick blocks of stone. The climate of the Appian Way in Italy is milder and chariots or wagons are much lighter than cars and trucks. We need to use less costly conductors than the miles of copper.
Many city downtown areas are already too congested to accomodate even SmartCars. In these special areas, streets may be limited to electric carts, velmobiles, scootors,and foot traffic.
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