Such an excellent and cogent discussion of the challenges of making an autonomous vehicle startup work.

I really resonate with the challenge they had making safety "sexy" from a coverage point of view. It seems it shares that attribute with "security" which, when done well, means nothing happens.

I had a lot of hope that we would get four lane (two each way) "freight ways"[1]. These would be paved roads designed specifically for autonomous trucks to move freight from one point to another. With sufficient freight ways between key cities on the coast and further inland, and efficient way to move goods with somewhat worse costs than rail and quite a bit better in terms of reaction time.

[1] Like a free way but designed specifically to exclusively service autonomous trucks carrying standard containers.