Google Designing Its Own Self-Driving Car, Considers ‘Robo Taxi’ (jessicalessin.com)

Idea: A joint venture between Google and Tesla. With Google's software and Tesla's hardware, we can have a car share network of autonomous cars. You no longer own a car, you simply call one up when you need it. You get it and the car drives itself to your destination. Then you get out and the car drives away to pick up another passenger. This spreads out the high cost of electric vehicles, while lowering the overall number of vehicles on the road. Drunk driving is history, as are parking garages, parking meters, taxi drivers, bus drivers and public transit as we know it. The center-most lanes of highways become the auto-pilot lane, where cars form a 'train' of cars, traveling at 120 mph and with only inches between the bumpers, to take advantage of lowered air resistance via drafting. Of course, this requires the infrastructure of solar powered charging stations. But I think a better solution might be to install wireless charging plates in the road itself, so that the cars can travel further without charging. You might even be able to provide a tiered service- private, limo-style vehicles for the wealthy and more modest, carpool style busses for cheap public transit.