How driverless technology future threatens the iron laws of real estate

The link between property and transport has been perhaps the most durable in human history

Since the ancients, few things have delivered higher land values with more certainty than advances in transport, from roads to canals, railways to highways.

It’s still “a no-brainer” in the 21st century, says Bridget Buxton. She bought a fixer-upper with her husband in a scruffy part of east London in 2016 because it’s a short walk to the high-speed crosstown rail line due to open this year. Prices are up 90 percent in the past five years for homes like hers, far outpacing the whole city.

But now, the dawn of the driverless car—promising a utopia of stress-free commutes, urban