What lessons can the industry learn from the adoption of the autonomous car?
In parts of Phoenix, it is no longer unusual to see a car arrive without a driver. Robotaxis from Waymo have been operating there for years, picking up passengers, navigating intersections, and completing trips in regular city traffic. Similar pilots have appeared in areas of San Francisco through Cruise, and in Chinese cities such as Wuhan through Baidu’s Apollo Go program. And yet, these places are exceptions. Autonomous cars have been under development for more than two decades. The required technologies—advanced sensors, high-performance computing, machine learning algorithms, real-time mapping, and connectivity—are all available. So the vehicles are adequately intelligent. The progress has not stalled for lack of time or innovation. So why are self-driving cars operating in only a handful of cities across the world? The answer lies not inside the car, but outside it. Autonomous driving succeeds where the environment supports it—where conditions such as roads and regulations ...