Let's Use Self-Driving Cars to Fix America's Busted Infrastructure

An entire sector of the federal government is held hostage by the last century. The death spiral of the gas tax, and the other broken user-fees, demand we reform federal transportation funding, harness emerging technology, and guide the autonomous vehicle revolution. The powerful disruptive force of car sharing services like Uber and Lyft will rapidly be joined by autonomous vehicle technology. A huge part of our economy and culture--the American way of life designed around the automobile for the last century--will change. Our challenge is to use that change to solve problems rather than create new ones, and maintain and tailor our existing infrastructure for the future.