@JackCraver One thing I find interesting is that folks really focus on defending the viability of bus ART by focusing on the "autonomous" part and kinda gloss over the actual Game Changing™ theorized aspect of that mode, which is the high-proximity "platooning" to match rail's capacity.
@JackCraver Another thing I find interesting is that the PC/MCAC docs have some cost estimates that really make even the Orange Line (and also Blue Line) seem way premature for HCT. This is for the north GL stretch and LRT and BRT are quite likely to decrease system O&M productivity. 
@JackCraver It's a frustrating situation as an analyst attempting to maintain rigor. One can't really estimate the O&M costs of platooning bus ART (it doesn't exist). And it's pointless to even try if our best land use stretches can't leverage HCT projects to improve system productivity.
@JackCraver I really hope MCAC folks, transit activists, one-person transportation "think tanks", and electeds focus on opening up and validating these cost models. I hope these estimates are wrong. But if not, why spend $1B to, say, pick up 15k riders on one route but lose 30k system-wide?
@JackCraver Finally, a "dedicated pathways first" strategy will run up against a similar version of this obstacle. If there are enough new riders in the HCT corridors shifting to transit, it's politically hard to inconvenience motorists during the transition to more sustainable modes.
