Every year, it seems we get closer to the tipping point that will usher in the era of the self-driving car.
We are, perhaps, a couple steps before that watershed moment, but there is still reason to be immensely excited (and/or fearful, depending on your role) as companies like Waymo launch extensive testing of their autonomous taxi service.
TechCrunch reports on the former Google company's early rider program, which has launched in Phoenix and allows passengers to sit back and let the car do the driving.
As TechCrunch notes, Waymo cleverly released the following video to highlight how normal self-driving technology can be (when it works). The featured family goes about life, performing errands with a car that shows up and whisks them away.
Soon, (and we are talking a few years, max), you will get into a sans-driver car and head to the hotel, not bothering to consider the gravity of the moment.
Waymo is currently expanding its Phoenix case study by allowing anyone in the area to apply and try out the innovation. It marks a very important step in the technology as more individuals will dip their toes in uncharted waters and discover there isn't anything all that terrifying about the experience.
The Guardian's Gwyn Topham asks a very important question this week: Is it time to consider ripping the human element out of driving altogether? Topham notes the United Kingdom has its own abundance of self-driving trails currently operating and planned for the future.
GATEway Project aims to trial the technology throughout the area to better understand how cars without drivers might perform throughout the country.
The article is careful to note that it's no longer a question of if we have full adoption from the general public but rather when we will.
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The timeline is shorter than you might think, Topham writes, explaining an Oxford-to-London trial that is set to take place in the next couple years: "The next stage, coming as early as next year, allows the car to take over on certain roads, such as motorways, but with the driver ready to retake control, and still required for many situations. The Oxford-London trial is at level four, where cars can pretty much do all the driving, under human supervision - and should be widespread in eight years, the motor industry believes."
As for that moment when the general public fully embraces the technology, Topham predicts a general industry date of 2030.
And it's in the next decade that government officials and insurers will have to ask whether it's safer and cheaper to ban human influence behind the wheel altogether.
Oxbotica will lead the charge in that Oxford-London test, and Topham spoke with its CEO Graeme Smith who wonders, "If we have a vehicle that is 10 times safer than a human driver, wouldn't it be criminal to let the human driver in?"
Other problems like "What happens to all the taxi, bus and freight driving jobs?" will likely be more disruptive and problematic still.
These important questions will be answered in time and by a market that may be more than ready to sit back, tap open their tablet and let the car worry about the traffic situation.
Both Singapore and Greece have tested some form of driverless taxi technology. As mentioned, the UK is keen on the innovation-a government official once targeted 2020 as a year that it would be in prolific use. And Tokyo eyes the same year for some form of driverless technology to coincide with the Summer Olympics.
We live in an era when we can book a room and call a ride-sharing service in a matter of moments from the device in our pockets. Those notions are completely natural to us now as we pore over the day's events on our smartphone. Soon, the same kind of nonchalant attitude will greet us as we step into a self-driving minivan or sedan to head to the airport or out of town on a truly epic road trip.
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Get used to the idea, because the industry is making tremendous steps to bring the technology curbside. And because it's safer, perhaps cheaper for insurance companies and breeds less congestion, officials may soon take the keys out of your hand.
But that just means you have an extra hand to sip coffee as you finish that book on your way to the hotel.
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