Bruegmann, professor emeritus of urban planning, says there is a tendency to believe there is an inherent difference between private and public transportation - the car versus the bus, for example - from those who encourage public transportation as a way to cut traffic congestion and fuel consumption.
"But given the technical advances of recent years, trains and particularly buses are no longer necessarily more fuel-efficient per vehicle kilometre travelled than the car," he said.
"For the vast majority of trips, they are much slower. At best, policies encouraging transit use at the expense of automobiles involve painful trade-offs."
He says the driverless car might break down the division between public and private.
It might reduce congestion by maximising the use of existing highways and taking passengers farther and faster with greater comfort. It could also help to ease traffic fatalities and congestion.
"The driverless car could well extend that flexibility, combining some characteristics of automobiles and public transportation and allowing people more choice in the way they live," he said.