Skip to Content
Streetsblog San Francisco home
Log In
Streetsblog.net

A Swedish Transit Agency Cuts Through the Autonomous Car Hype

2:46 PM PDT on March 29, 2017

You can thank Västtrafik, a Swedish transit agency, for this great ad that spoofs driverless car hype.

The ad uses car commercial cliches — tight shots of a sleek exterior, an overbearing soundtrack — to express a point that doesn’t get made often enough: We already have the technology to address a lot of the problems that self-driving cars purport to solve.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KITqzFeJ-7Q?ecver=1]

Buses may lack the novelty and sheen of autonomous technology, but they have advantages that a four-door sedan never will — namely, the efficiency of moving more people in less space. And they work fine right now, not in five, ten, or 20 years. We should see buses held up as the elegant transportation solution they are more often.

Hat tip: The Verge

You can thank Västtrafik, a Swedish transit agency, for this great ad that spoofs driverless car hype.

The ad uses car commercial cliches -- tight shots of a sleek exterior, an overbearing soundtrack -- to express a point that doesn't get made often enough: We already have the technology to address a lot of the problems that self-driving cars purport to solve.

Buses may lack the novelty and sheen of autonomous technology, but they have advantages that a four-door sedan never will -- namely, the efficiency of moving more people in less space. And they work fine right now, not in five, ten, or 20 years. We should see buses held up as the elegant transportation solution they are more often.

Hat tip: The Verge

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog San Francisco

Motorist Kills Pedestrian on Valencia

While distracted/inattentive driving was a primary factor, the non-intuitive and dangerous center-running design almost certainly contributed

September 21, 2023

Call to Action: Save a Vital Link in Marin’s Bike Network

Hearing tonight. Just south of the new bridge over Corte Madera Creek there's a short and vital but super sketchy gap on the route to Wornum Drive. Now a Larkspur City Council person wants to kill a project to close this gap.

September 20, 2023
See all posts