Driverless vehicle technology is regularly in the news these days.
Did you know that the first appearance of this technology was at GM's Futurama exhibit at the 1939 World's Fair in New York?
That exhibit included a vision of what transportation might look like 20 years in the future.
The forecast included self-guided cars that maintained the proper distance from each other and automated highways.
Developments since then, especially in recent years, have brought us closer to GM’s prediction. They have been a number of driverless vehicle technology initiatives, including ones by Google, BMW, Audi and Renault-Nissan, among others.
Among the objectives of such initiatives: development of a range of applications that will result in faster infrastructure repair and maintenance, better emergency-response times and improved incident and congestion management.
Another is development of a communications system that will alert vehicle drivers to hazardous conditions, such as slick pavement or debris on the roadway.
To be sure, driverless vehicles is transformative technology that will fundamentally alter our transportation system.