Exactly. Driverless trains are a solved problem, so why don't we just build some of those?
We also need to focus on the actual problem we're faced with. Cities are hitting limits to growth due to congestion and we can't build more roads. The state of tech right now is capable enough to solve that problem by increasing the throughput of the major arteries of LA / DC / etc.
But my understanding is that at least as far things like subways go, driverless trains aren't a difficult problem.