The Elcano Project seeks to demonstrate that good autonomy is an available and affordable technology which can have a major impact on global warming.
Use open source code and standardized hardware design (http://sourceforge.net/projects/urbanchallenge/) to routinely build vehicles capable of running Robo-Magellan (http://www.robothon.org/robothon/robo-magellan.php) at speeds of 20-30 mph (35-50 kph).
When several such vehicles have been built, demonstrate communication and control systems capable of operating the vehicles as a personal rapid transit (PRT).
Start a commercial company (http://www.cogneta.com/ or other) to build high quality urban transportation systems based on the hobbyist proof-of-concept.
Magellan did not sail around the world, since he died in the Philippines. The first people to circumnavigate the globe were 18 members of Magellan's crew, under the leadership of Juan Sebastian Elcano (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_Sebastián_Elcano).
The DARPA Grand Challenge (http://www.darpa.mil/grandchallenge) races for autonomous vehicles have demonstrated feasibility. Autonomy has enormous implications and it becomes much easier when the infrastructure helps the vehicles.
Vehicles can operate with shorter following distances, which increase the capacity of freeway lanes by a factor of four.
Based on comparing accident rates of autonomous commuter trains with motor vehicles, we can expect safety to improve by a factor of 30. Motor vehicles kill 40,000 people annually in the US at an economic cost of $231 billion (http://www.bts.gov/publications/transportation_statistics_annual_report/2004/html/chapter_02/economic_costs_of_motor_vehicle_crashes.html).
An SUV no longer has a safety advantage over a motorcycle.
The average American car weighs 4000 pounds (1800 kg) while the average American male weighs 190 lb (86 kg). Since energy to overcome rolling resistance is proportional to mass, that energy requirement falls by a factor of 10 for a 200 lb (90 kg) vehicle.
Autonomous vehicles can be operated as a railless personal rapid transit (PRT) system. Since there are no intermediate stops, a 30 mph (50 kph) PRT system is as fast as a 60mph (100 kph) light rail system.
The energy needed for stops and starts is mostly eliminated.
At 30 mph (50 kph), energy to overcome aerodynamic drag is 8 times less than at 60 mph (100 kph).
Light autonomous electric vehicles can be expected to achieve 1000 mpg (0.25 l/100 km) equivalent.
US drivers go 3 trillion vehicle miles every year, with 65% classified as urban. If half the urban miles were replaced with light vehicles, the US would use 1.5 million fewer barrels of oil daily.
In the best case, vehicle electricity is produced without fossil fuels. In the worst case of producing energy from coal, US carbon savings are 160,000 tons (146,000 metric tons) per day. This is 12 trains each pulling 100 coal cars.
Electrathons have demonstrated that students and hobbyists can build electric vehicles capable of covering 40 miles (70 km) in an hour.
DARPA Grand Challenge vehicles used navigation instruments priced above $10,000. In a non-hostile environment, autonomy can be done for under $1000.
An autonomous public/private light vehicle system gives the performance of light rail at a much lower cost. It allows people to operate their vehicles manually on city streets.