It's an interesting article, in that the lede was one I didn't personally expect. The common complaint lodged against AVs is that they'll never have the common

It's an interesting article, in that the lede was one I didn't personally expect. The common complaint lodged against AVs is that they'll never have the common sense that people do, and this will lead to inexcusable accidents in dense urban environments: the Uber/Arizona case being the poster child for this type of incident. The article complains however, that the inverse might happen, and that this would in fact be more problematic: in order to avoid accidents, AVs will be too safe in a game of tug of war with urban pedestrians, bringing traffic to a frequent standstill. To overcome this challenge, towns will face a lot of pressure from privileged AV-operators to enforce jaywalking ordinances and erect barriers to pedestrian traffic, which would degrade the urban walking experience people currently enjoy in downtown environs; hence "make our streets worse". I also liked the distinction between "street" and "road". Overall, an interesting/nuanced take on the practical impact and application of AVs from somebody who's clearly spent some time ruminating on the subject.