Self-driving shuttle buses will be hauling riders around downtown Columbus later this year, a significant move as the city begins initiatives aimed at making it a “smart city” for transportation.

If your least favorite part of food shopping is the parking lot, take comfort: Driverless cars are coming to the grocery industry.

It’s not just hands-free driving that self-guided cars may bring into reality. Autonomous vehicles could unleash new technological and economic development on a level not seen since the dawn of the space age.

Elon Musk has called lidar a crutch. The Tesla CEO believes he can build self-driving and semi-autonomous cars without relying on the technology, which uses lasers to help the cars map and navigate their surroundings.

Volkswagen AG’s fledgling Moia mobility unit is betting on the rise of self-driving cars to deliver on its plan to catch up with ride-hailing leaders such as Uber Technologies Inc. without burning through piles of cash.

Self-driving cars will soon be zipping across Boston after transportation officials granted one company permission to test their robotic cars outside the Seaport — with South Boston first up.

World Cup soccer spectators had the opportunity to ride driverless buses to see France’s clash with Australia in Russia’s eastern city of Kazan on June 16, part of a state-backed push into autonomous vehicles.

Enterprise Holdings Inc., the nation’s largest car renter, is making a foray into self-driving — albeit gingerly.

In China, autonomous trucking is coming faster than expected. Chinese driverless truck startup Fabu Technology said June 12 that its driverless trucks already have taken part in open road tests and it plans to offer intercity cargo transportation this year, which is expected to radically reshape the nation’s freight transportation market.

In an abandoned lot on the outskirts of Sacramento, Calif., R1, a domed gray vehicle half the size of a Toyota Corolla, is practicing driving itself. It stops at stop signs, yields to people, and handles sharp turns, as other self-driving vehicles do on test courses in Silicon Valley, Detroit, and China.