> The concept of self driving cars isn't mutually incompatible with public transportation.

It is.

Just like Uber with $25B in funding is mutually incompatible with small time taxi services around the world. The only way Uber ever pays its investors back is by establishing a global monopoly over taxi-transportation and making narrow margins over economies of scale.

The self-driving industry has received upwards of $200billion in funding. If cities start moving towards public transit, that signals an existential threat to the ability of these VCs to make their money back.

Note: Some industries are zero sum games. The total number of places people want to go to is limited. Better taxi technology will not mean a larger addressable market. The only way self-driving companies win, is by defeating other means of transport.