Autonomous cars will increase urban road congestion

Glowing stories that say otherwise have focused on highways and far future scenarios

Congestion is a serious issue in developed countries, but autonomous cars are likely to be as much a part of the problem as part of the solution. Consider these US numbers from a study published in late 2015:

The top 30 bottlenecks are each responsible for more than one million hours of lost time annually. Drivers stuck on these roads experience total delays of about 91 million…