The Resilience of "Planes, Trains, and Automobiles": Comment on "Driverless Cars Will Make Passenger Rail Obsolete," by Yair Wiseman [Opinion]

Reports on transportation systems in smart cities. Modern cities are complex socio-technical entities that exist to provide services effectively to their residents and visitors. In the mobility context, people need to travel quickly and conveniently between locations at different scales, ranging from a trip of a few blocks to a journey across town or further. Each trip has its set of requirements. In some cases time may be of the essence, but in other cases the cost may be paramount — or the convenience of door-to-door travel may be important. In each of these situations, the transportation infrastructure should seamlessly provide the best option to citizens integrating different transportation options including buses, trains, taxis, bicycles, and cars. The combinatorial complexity of all these possibilities negates the option of a single, monolithic control system.