A Swedish Transit Agency Cuts Through the Autonomous Car Hype

You can thank Västtrafik, a Swedish transit agency, for this great ad that spoofs driverless car hype.

The ad uses car commercial cliches — tight shots of a sleek exterior, an overbearing soundtrack — to express a point that doesn’t get made often enough: We already have the technology to address a lot of the problems that self-driving cars purport to solve.

Buses may lack the novelty and sheen of autonomous technology, but they have advantages that a four-door sedan never will — namely, the efficiency of moving more people in less space. And they work fine right now, not in five, ten, or 20 years. We should see buses held up as the elegant transportation solution they are more often.

Hat tip: The Verge.