Florida's population recently surpassed 22 million and is growing at the eighth-fastest rate in the country, thanks largely to a flood of Northeasterners and Midwesterners moving south for better weather and lower taxes. This influx is good for the state's economy. But it's also creating tremendous infrastructure challenges -- especially when it comes to transportation. As anyone who has sat in Miami's or Orlando's infamous bumper-to-bumper traffic can attest, the Sunshine State has some of the worst congestion in the country. Fortunately, traffic might not bedevil Floridians much longer. Artificial intelligence, machine learning, and advanced sensor technology are poised to make public transit far more convenient and attractive to potential riders currently stuck with the 10th-worst commute times in the United States.

The driverless taxi era has finally arrived, in parts of Arizona, at least. Two weeks after Alphabet-owned Waymo started its driverless taxi service to the public in Phoenix, other autonomous vehicle developers are following suit with test vehicles on public roads as well. Until spring this year, Waymo's self-driving vehicles were in their testing phase and were used in up to 10% of the firm's rides. The pandemic forced the company to shutter its doors and temporarily suspend on-road testing, but it is now back online and is expanding its operations. However, as is still required by law, the Waymo One taxi currently requires a human driver to be present to manage the car's autonomous operation and take control when necessary.

Arizona Governor Doug Ducey recently announced a new multimillion-dollar public-private research partnership in the pursuit of fully autonomous vehicles. The move is an indication that Arizona is doubling down on its status as an autonomous-vehicle testing hotbed--mere months after the first-ever human fatality involving an autonomous vehicle occurred on Arizona roads. Despite plenty of setbacks, automakers and tech companies remain committed to autonomous vehicles, with many saying that consumers will be able to hail a driverless taxi within the next couple of years. But serious cracks are beginning to emerge in this roadmap: Even younger generations are not yet onboard. Plenty of invested capital is riding on autonomous vehicles.

Hagerty, the largest insurer of classic cars, wants to save driving as more automakers push to bring self-driving cars to the roads in the future. McKeel Hagerty stands with his 1967 Porsche 911S which he bought for $500 when he was 13 and restored it in the garage with his Dad. It was his first car and he still owns it 37 years later. Car enthusiast McKeel Hagerty's future changed in March 2017. He was at a car event in Vancouver, British Columbia, when a stranger involved in developing self-driving cars took Hagerty by the elbow, looked him in the eye, and laid forth the future.

A little over two years ago now I wrote a review for The Crew, Ubisoft's racing-game-slash-MMO hybrid, a game that touted all of America as its map. And it made good on that promise--I spent a long time just admiring the scenery contained therein. That's about all I admired though, because it was a pretty damn mediocre racing game. And here we are again, with The Crew 2. Another game with an identity crisis, of sorts. Another game where the map is the biggest draw--and it's a fantastic draw, let me say that up front.

Sitting in the BMW dealership waiting for a flat to be replaced, I realize I've driven over 100 miles and spent five hours behind the wheel this week. In Phoenix, I am living the life this city has designed for me. A sprawling grid fueled by swooping highways and generous arterial roads, the Phoenix metropolitan area is a gargantuan expression of the car culture that defines the urban experience for most Americans. To use this space, you need a vehicle. Anything else effects your passive or active exclusion from a host of activities and, more broadly, from the culture itself.

Sitting in the BMW dealership waiting for a flat to be replaced, I realize I've driven over 100 miles and spent five hours behind the wheel this week. In Phoenix, I am living the life this city has designed for me. A sprawling grid fueled by swooping highways and generous arterial roads, the Phoenix metropolitan area is a gargantuan expression of the car culture that defines the urban experience for most Americans. To use this space, you need a vehicle. Anything else effects your passive or active exclusion from a host of activities and, more broadly, from the culture itself.

Future Tense is a partnership of Slate, New America, and Arizona State University that examines emerging technologies, public policy, and society. A brief scan of the lyrical landscape reveals what the car represents in American culture. There's machismo, naturally, as with the sunny bravado as the Beach Boys bop: "We always take my car, 'cause it's never been beat/ And we've never missed yet with the girls we meet." Commitment: "I drove all night to get to you." Luxury and power: "Pull up in the monster, automobile gangsta/ With a bad bitch that came from Sri Lanka/ Yeah, I'm in that Tonka, color of Willy Wonka/ You could be the king, but watch the queen conquer." There's liberation, "Ridin' along in my automobile/ My baby beside me at the wheel," sometimes salted with limitation, "You got a fast car/ Is it fast enough so we can fly away?"