In fact, one report found autonomous vehicles were solely at fault in just 4% of crashes involving other road users — the rest overwhelmingly caused by human drivers.
For communities that have waited generations for a subway line that will never come, autonomous vehicles could offer something transformational: transit connections for those still underserved today.
The same way app-based ride-hailing freed Black New Yorkers from a lifetime of cabs that wouldn’t stop, autonomous vehicles offer the next leap forward in rides that can’t discriminate.
This fall, Albany should work together to champion policies that would open the door to a well-regulated autonomous vehicle industry.
Autonomous vehicles are already making streets safer in cities and states across the country, and their potential to create new opportunities by filling transit gaps is only growing.