Most people choose public transportation to avoid the agony of commuter traffic (mine is ~2hrs per day). Not only is it time consuming but you can't do anything else during that time other than get bored. If I had a self driving car, I could work during the commute, making the incentive for taking the train much lower.
It would take much analysis and user studies to see if effects like this that encourage people to drive more or car sharing effects will dominate. But reducing air pollution definitely is not a foregone conclusion.
It would take much analysis and user studies to see if effects like this that encourage people to drive more or car sharing effects will dominate. But reducing air pollution definitely is not a foregone conclusion.