The Ultimate Guide to Autonomous Driving (2025 Edition)

Most people still think “autonomous driving” means a Tesla changing lanes on the highway while you scroll Instagram. But the reality is more complex, and more interesting.

Autonomy isn’t just about your car driving itself. It’s about how goods move, how cities operate, and how we design transportation systems that no longer rely on people behind the wheel. Think delivery vans with no drivers. Buses that reroute on the fly. Urban plans built around vehicles that see and respond to the world in real time. Autonomy is reshaping logistics, public transit, and the way automakers are thinking about the next decade.

And yet, most people still have questions:

• What exactly is autonomous driving?
• How does it work?
• Is it safe?
• Who are the market leaders?
• And how close are we to seeing this at scale?

In this guide, we’ll break it all down, what autonomy really means, how it’s being deployed today, what the market looks like in 2025, and why vision-based systems like Imagry are at the center of what’s next.

What Is Autonomous Driving?

Autonomous driving refers to a vehicle’s ability to perceive its surroundings, make decisions, and control itself without human input.

Self-driving vehicles combine a set of key technologies:

• Sensors – including cameras, radar, or LiDAR
• Artificial Intelligence (AI) models for interpreting sensor data
• Software to plan the driving path
• Control systems to steer, brake, and accelerate

Some systems still require driver supervision. Others can drive independently in specific conditions. Very few are fully autonomous today.

The 5 Levels of Autonomy

The Society of Automotive Engineers defines six levels of autonomy from Level 0 to Level 5.

What Powers Autonomous Vehicles?

Autonomous vehicles rely on a technology stack that includes:

• Perception to detect lanes, vehicles, pedestrians, traffic signs and all other objects
• Planning to choose the safest and most efficient path
• Control to execute braking, steering, and acceleration
• Localization to understand the vehicle’s position in the world
• Decision-making logic to respond to dynamic situations

Some systems depend heavily on cloud-based processing and pre-mapped environments. Others, like Imagry, operate fully on the vehicle in real time, with no cloud dependence.

Vision-only or LiDAR: Two Competing Philosophies

There is a growing divide in how companies approach self-driving technology. Some, like Waymo, build around expensive LiDAR sensors and high-definition maps. These systems are precise but limited to small, carefully pre-mapped areas.

Others, like Tesla and Imagry, rely on cameras and computer vision to perceive the world. These systems mimic how human drivers see and understand their environment.

Imagry’s approach goes even further. It eliminates the need for both LiDAR and HD maps. The system builds a real-time understanding of the road using only cameras and onboard intelligence.

Market Size and Growth Forecast

The demand for autonomous driving is growing quickly across both personal vehicles and public transportation markets.

Autonomous Vehicles

• The global autonomous vehicle market size was valued at USD 1,500.3 billion in 2022 and is projected to grow from USD 1,921.1 billion in 2023 to USD 13,632.4 billion by 2030, exhibiting a CAGR of 32.3% during the forecast period. (Fortune Business Insights)
• Level 4 and Level 5 vehicles could account for up to 10% of new car sales in advanced markets by 2030 (Goldman Sachs)

Autonomous Public Transit

• The global self-driving bus market size is expected to grow from USD 1.73 billion in 2024 to USD 9.34 billion by 2032, exhibiting a CAGR of 24.6% during the forecast period. (Fortune Business Insights)
• The autonomous ride-sharing fleets market is projected to grow at a CAGR of over 63.5% between 2023 and 2032, reaching significant market size due to increasing urbanization and smart city initiatives. (Global Market Insights)
• Over 100,000 autonomous shuttles could be operating globally by 2030 according to (Berg Insight)

This growth is not limited to cars. Autonomous mobility includes buses, last-mile delivery, ride-sharing fleets, and micro-transit.

Public Transportation: The Quiet Leader

While robotaxis get the headlines, many cities are already deploying autonomous public transportation. Public transit is an early success story because:

• Labor shortages are on the rise
• Compared to human drivers, autonomous driving is financially attractive
• Routes are predictable, making AI easier to train and test
• Fewer intersections and lower speeds reduce complexity
• Transit fleets are managed centrally, simplifying integration

For example, Imagry’s platform is already being used in public transportation pilots around the world. Because it does not require HD maps, it can operate in new environments without extensive preparation. Cities can deploy faster, at lower cost, and with greater flexibility.

Deployment Status

Here is what is live today and what is still emerging.

What is Live

• Tesla continues to expand its Full Self-Driving
• Waymo operates Level 4 robotaxis in multiple major U.S. cities
• Imagry is powering autonomous vehicles and urban bus deployments using vision-only AI

What is Not Yet Real

• Cross-city robotaxi networks with no human intervention
• Consumer-grade Level 5 systems available at scale
• Commercial Level 4 full-sized buses on public roads

Safety, Trust, and Regulation

Regulation remains one of the largest hurdles to mainstream AV adoption. There are major questions that remain unresolved.

• Who is liable in the case of an accident?
• How can AV performance be tested and certified?
• How can the public trust a system it cannot see or understand?

Imagry is addressing these concerns by building a system that works entirely within the vehicle. It removes cloud dependency, reduces failure points, and creates explainable AI decisions that make safety more transparent.

Who Are the Leaders in Autonomous Driving?

Tesla

Vision-only strategy. Mass scale. Level 2+. Data-first approach.

Waymo

LiDAR and HD-maps. High safety standards. Limited geographic range.

Imagry

Vision-based autonomy with no HD maps, no LiDAR, and no cloud. Built to scale and already operating in real-world transit environments.

Imagry’s Approach: Built for the Real World

Imagry is different from other AV platforms. It is built for open environments, fast deployment, and wide-scale adoption.

Here is what makes it work:

• Uses only cameras and onboard AI
• Does not depend on high-definition maps
• Operates in real time with no cloud latency
• Designed to work with sustainable vehicle platforms, including transit fleets

Instead of creating another high-cost showcase, Imagry delivers intelligent autonomy that adapts to new roads, new cities, and new use cases without costly pre-mapping or infrastructure changes.