The promise of autonomous vehicles DOES tend to prevent "fixing transit". It reinforces the narrative of individual car ownership. In American society, you ar

The promise of autonomous vehicles DOES tend to prevent "fixing transit". It reinforces the narrative of individual car ownership. In American society, you are seen as a bit lesser if you don't have an individual vehicle. Autonomous vehicles promise to expand individual car ownership to some groups that would normally be forced to rely on public transit (people disabled in a way that prevents them from driving, or repeat drunk drivers, for example). For the able-bodied, they promise the relaxed luxury of "someone/thing else is driving and I can work/read/relax" that public transport offers, without having to actually build public transport. This means the people with the strongest vested interests in public transit are already relatively outcast and underclass, and it will only get worse. Make the rich and powerful have to take a bus, and suddenly it will become a significant political concern that the schedule is a loose suggestion at best, and that nobody has cleaned the bus since George VI was on the throne. It would be interesting to expand on your last point-- an AV fleet that compliments public transit as a last-mile offering-- but it doesn't seem to be the model we're seeing sold right now. It's the same old vehicle designs clearly intended for single-family use, long trip times, and low duty cycle. I would imagine an AV system built as a "compliment" might involve small, slow vehicles, almost glorified bumper cars, with like 25km battery range, since the target application is to drive from the train station to a home/office, then return to the station for a battery swap and service. While each trip is a light task, a single vehicle might go on dozens of trips per day and as a result get a completely different wear pattern than your typical Hyundai.