The DARPA Grand Challenge in 2005 and Urban Challenge in 2007 are what started it all.
Now that Google, Uber and others are racing to commercialize, all the government has to do is not overregulate. No need to "push forward an agenda".
(FWIW DARPA, then known as ARPA, did the same thing the internet a few decades ago.)
I'm more surprised/disappointed that someone on HN wasn't aware of those initiatives. It shows why people are for defunding government research. Though I imagine DARPA being part of the military, wouldn't have been in that boat, but my point remains the same to NASA, NSF, NOAA etc.
You've made an assumption that I'm unaware of them, which is incorrect.
I just think they're very small in the grand scheme of things. The DARPA challenges are a blip on the radar of the federal budget, as it relates to highways, auto safety, fuel efficiency, and a variety of other areas where self-driving cars will have a tremendous impact.