^^^
Autonomous shuttles are a great idea. Direct non-stop shuttles between high-density areas of the city could replace many bus routes and raise ridership (depending on the areas, of course).
In the news:
Elon Musk: Tesla 90% autonomous in 2015
http://money.cnn.com/video/technolog...ney/index.html
(No text, just a 44 second video when you click the link.)