I'd be pretty disappointed in El Goog, if they weren't taking this opportunity to learn something about providing public transit service--with an eye toward mak

I'd be pretty disappointed in El Goog, if they weren't taking this opportunity to learn something about providing public transit service--with an eye toward making public transit better. In transportation planning, we sometimes differentiate between "fixed route" (a.k.a. the busses and trains you're accustomed to) and other specialty forms of public transit that often serve some particular demographic in a more flexible manner. Now, think about Google's self-driving cars for a minute here. What are the big challenges? Well, it appears Google needs to have a LOT of data about the rights-of-way that they drive. New and novel driving environments are handled by way of "pull over and stop." Could Google perchance see some value in pursuing the "fixed route transit" market? Oh my yes. It's a perfect use-case for their technology more or less as it exists today. Further, let's think about the economics. It is a fact that labor costs are typically the greatest single cost when providing public transit in the developed world. Busses are relatively cheap compared to the drivers. See where this is going? Transit typically doesn't manage farebox cost recovery by quite a wide margin (cars don't internalize nearly all their costs either, but that's another story). A lot--enough to have an enormous impact on policy--of transit funding in the US comes from the federal government. Transportation is the second largest appropriations package Congress passes after military, and there is typically a big fight over how much will be allocated to public transit. This tends to break down along party lines as you'd expect: godless, commie pinko scum want public transit; fascist plutocratic narcissists don't. I can just imagine the appropriations discussions now: Google announces self-driving bus and all of a sudden Republicans have a means by which they can support public transit--provided in large part by private industry--and that hurts a big segment of organized labor in the process (bonus?). And, of course if there is an upset in Congress, selling improved public transit to democrats isn't hard either. I like that there are good paying jobs for bus drivers currently, but I like good public transit more. So I'm pretty bullish about Google getting into this game... assuming they're getting into the game, which they should be. Google, if you're getting into this game and looking for transportation planners to shower with money and hot lunches, this humble PhD student bicycles past your Seattle offices daily. Just sayin' ;-)