A Surprising Hub For Driverless Cars

Richard Morgan predicts that Tampa, Florida will become ”the driverless era’s Motown”:

Only four states (California, Florida, Michigan, and Nevada) allow driverless cars. And the federal government has only authorized a handful of public-road test beds – Tampa has one – for so-called ”connected vehicles,” which are not necessarily driverless. … Florida is also primed for robot assistants. It’s currently home to 26 metropolitan areas, 14.3 million people, and 100 million annual tourists. In 2012, Florida suffered 2,424 of the nation’s 33,561 highway deaths (only California and Texas had more), according to the NHTSA. By 2030, a quarter of Floridians are expected to be 65 or older, their more alert driving days behind them. Tampa, in particular, has many of the social ingredients experts think of when they envision the driverless era: retirement communities, college campuses, military bases, hotels and theme parks — contained settings well-suited for autonomous shuttle services.