While reading this article...
Driverless cars are only going to change just about everything
http://business.financialpost.com/20..._lsa=d366-a2f1
... I came across this video:
• Video Link
If you can't see it, it basically notes the various infrastructure improvements that can be made possible with autonomous cars. These include:
1) Increased parking capacity, as parked cars can move out of each other's way in the garage in order to let other cars in or out.
2 Increased roadway capacity due to thinner (aka more) lane space. I'll continue to argue that the notion itself of lanes is too restricting, and that autonomous cars will fill the road space in the most efficient way possible, like a flex-road.
3) Increased grade-separation.
This is fascinating to me. Autonomous cars won't need overpasses/underpasses to be as wide as they currently are, nor do they need them to be so over-built. If you make a bridge for the weight of passenger cars, you can program all heavier vehicles never to go over it. Also, you can program all vehicles to go slower over the bridges, meaning they won't need to be as rigid. Lastly, because a computer is driving, sight-lines are no longer necessary, meaning that grades and crests can be much more pronounced, and that the lead-up to the bridge doesn't need to be as long.
All of this means that grade separation via bridges won't be nearly so expensive as it is now. Hence, I predict that with fully autonomous roadways, we will begin seeing much more grade separating at intersections and pedestrian crossings.