Originally Posted by
FiftySix
Yes, it would be for efficient long-distance (highway) travel.
#3 Refueling without stopping. - Buses have a pretty impressive range already. Never stopping sounds like an "express service". Coordinating a "tanker" to join up with a bus coming down the highway sounds like a neat trick on a flat loooooong section of highway, but otherwise would be a safety nightmare.
My thought was that longer non-stop coach runs could be facilitated by driverless control combined with refueling-without-stopping and maybe really comfortable seats/beds for sleeping.
Longer trips are a pain for drivers, who have to go back to their point of origin. Night trips are also a pain for drivers, who can't sleep while everyone else does. For passengers, on the other hand, sleeping makes time pass more easily. The problem is sleeping around a bunch of snoring strangers, but if there were passenger compartments similar to trains, passengers could opt for an individual sleeping compartment or one they can share with a few friends/family.
In addition to fueling-without-stopping, it would be good to have local buses that could dock-without-stopping on the highway so new passengers could step onto the long-distance bus without that bus slowing down. Transferring luggage would be more difficult, but if the luggage compartment could be accessed via floor-hatches inside the coach, people could board with their luggage in hand and then stow it under the floorboard once they were securely inside the bus.
Self-driving systems should provide really stable momentum so it would be easy to walk around and stow luggage without acceleration/deceleration caused by human drivers negotiating traffic, topographical contours, and other road conditions.