I live in outer London and commute into the centre most days by bus then train then tube. Most people around where I live do the same. I could drive, but it cos

I live in outer London and commute into the centre most days by bus then train then tube. Most people around where I live do the same. I could drive, but it costs too much to park and the time is wasted time, whereas I can read on public transport. If I had a self-driving car, the downside of driving would be removed, so I'd be much more tempted to drive. I guess many others would too, but London wouldn't cope. The upshot of this is that London's congestion charge zone would inevitably be expanded and the charge to drive into London increased still further to keep congestion manageable. I suspect that most cities that have good public transport would suffer similarly as commuters are tempted back onto the roads. The inevitable response would be London-style congestion charging becoming widespread, because few large European-style cities would cope with any significant fraction of the population switching from public transport to self-driving cars. In the end, due to such charging, I suspect we'd end up back in a similar status quo once the dust had settled, with most people still taking public transport. On the other had, my kids would probably love to be able to get around the suburbs without me needing to taxi them.