Small and economical self-driving electric pods could be mass-transit

Self driving rideshare is several decades away at the very least, and no one has demonstrated how to get from A to B in an economically viable way. (Uber and Lyft surviving on the good graces of VCs while hemorrhaging money is not economically viable.)

Probably more realistic is when existing transport paradigms like the bus adopt self-driving vehicles.

Do they have to be self-driving? Because if you skip that requirement, e-bikes fit the bill. :) There are also electric velomobiles that are very pod like. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CURGm-BcaaM Main problem seem to be not protective enough hull so you risk being run over by texting drivers.

Does the bike appear on demand at your place and disappear from your concern after you take another transport?

Self driving pods are a huge gain over the status quo.

I think a 6 person mini-bus may be a winning format.

I agree with you on the need to move towards mass transit but I disagree that more miles driven ~ more accidents. Level 4/5 automation will have the net effect of reducing the amount of accidents on the road.

Edit: clarified argument

Level 4/5 automation MAY have the net effect you suggest. Current self-driving efforts don't seem to be taking pedestrians into account very well at all, so that remains to be seen.

Who really knows what current self-driving efforts seem to be doing? All we know is what data the companies choose to release.

From a naive perspective, pedestrian avoidance seems like one of the easiest problems to solve.

Why not do both? It is not one or the other competition.

Every dollar (or hour) spent on self-driving is a dollar (or hour) not spent on mass-transit, so I'm not sure you're correct.

But yes, by all means, let's do both!