Why are you comparing your scheme to a defunct system, then? The cities in Europe I’ve lived in, and the cities in Asia I’ve visited, haven’t had that problem at all.
Because there is a market there, actual money to be made, that would be a lot more realistic for companies like Cruise and Waymo to solve than some pie in the sky self driving car. They could have been working towards a public transportation system that doesn't require millions of dollars in capital construction costs to put in place first. But that's not as sexy I guess.
It would be nice and easy just putting some sensors or special paint on the road, the problem is when those automatic vans share the same space than the rest of vehicles, you will have a crash frequently, in barcelona the light rail has crashed with several vehicles even when they don’t share the platform but on the intersections with crossing streets
Agreed, the goal isn't to replace transit in places that are well suited to it, its to provide better transportation in all the places transit isn't well suited.
