why would congestion change if all the drivers were fully autonomous? It's one thing to have a fully autonomous driver, but having them coordinate perfectly to have good throughput even in dense traffic conditions is another altogether. I think this second goal is much farther off and if the articles I've read on autonomous vehicles is any indication I expect they will drive more cautiously and slowly than most human drivers when they finally "go live" in a widespread fashion

> if the articles I've read on autonomous vehicles is any indication I expect they will drive more cautiously and slowly than most human drivers when they finally "go live" in a widespread fashion

They won't get stuck at left turns, on-ramps and rotarys due to an inability to use the skinny pedal to its full capacity.

That won't solve the sheer numbers problem but it's probably a solid sized constant factors improvement.

> As long as there are still some vehicles with human drivers on the roadways

You understand. If the government can tell you that you can only drive even or odd days, tell you that you can't drive at all (and must use self driving cars inside the 4th or even 5th ring road) is a very distinct possibility.

> congestion will not change.

Congestion arguably will worsen first.