Indeed. It's a way to funnel money around. Companies doing self driving cars will get it 90% there, then struggle with the last 10% and eventually funding will dry up as investors lose interest and move on to something with faster returns.

So are some of these public transportation projects. Seattle has started funding train lines that will finally open as late as 2040.

That’s especially true when rich ideologues attempt to defund or block every project that comes along. In Seattle’s case for ST1, at least half of the problem was that every plan was litigated to near-death by opponents whose only goal was to cynically create delay.

Couple this with idiotic fantasy projects (like monorails that go nowhere - the self-driving car of the mid-aughts!), and you have a self-fulfilling prophecy.

I don't see how that is in way relevant to self driving cars. Is Seattle funding self driving vehicles also?