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GM Will Make an Autonomous Car Without Steering Wheel or Pedals By 2019 (theverge.com)
General Motors plans to mass-produce self-driving cars that lack traditional controls like steering wheels and pedals by 2019, the company announced today. From a report: It's a bold declaration for the future of driving from one of the country's Big Three automakers, and one that is sure to shake things up for the industry as the annual Detroit Auto Show kicks off next week. The car will be the fourth generation of its driverless, all-electric Chevy Bolts, which are currently being tested on public roads in San Francisco and Phoenix. And when they roll off the assembly line of GM's manufacturing plant in Orion, Michigan, they'll be deployed as ride-hailing vehicles in a number of cities. "It's a pretty exciting moment in the history of the path to wide scale [autonomous vehicle] deployment and having the first production car with no driver controls," GM President Dan Ammann told The Verge. "And it's an interesting thing to share with everybody."
Some people in Phoenix might be doing it in the next few months. Google/Waymo has the cars are seem to be almost ready to let users use them. GM is similarly planning to restrict the geographic areas for their trial, so I can see that it could happen.
Answers:
GPS doesn't go out.
If any critical sensor fails, it's slow down and move to the side of the road.
The launch will be in a limited geographical area, so they'll have ensured the map is completely up to date and keep it that way.
It's a ride-hailing service (taxi) so micromanaging where it moves or parks is none of your business.