I agree with you on this. We need dense cities that don't depend on cars.
I will say that self-driving cars help a bit in getting people to bike, though. The biggest barrier to biking in San Francisco is people's fear of getting killed by cars (the SF Bike Coalition has done surveys on this). Self-driving cars should pose less of a risk to cyclists - they don't run red lights or speed, etc.
Another potential benefit would be reducing the need for parking. The biggest obstacle to physically separated bike lanes is the space they take up - typically that requires removing parking. If self-driving taxis are super cheap, that should lead to less car ownership, and possibly less demand for parking.
I will say that self-driving cars help a bit in getting people to bike, though. The biggest barrier to biking in San Francisco is people's fear of getting killed by cars (the SF Bike Coalition has done surveys on this). Self-driving cars should pose less of a risk to cyclists - they don't run red lights or speed, etc.
Another potential benefit would be reducing the need for parking. The biggest obstacle to physically separated bike lanes is the space they take up - typically that requires removing parking. If self-driving taxis are super cheap, that should lead to less car ownership, and possibly less demand for parking.
That's all very speculative though.