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It’s not exactly public transportation, but developers at Google, Inc. are designing technology that allows cars to drive themselves. Democratic State Senator Alex Padilla is so enamored with the plans that he let a Google-designed self-driving Toyota Prius give him a lift to Sacramento to hold a news conference about it.

As reported by the Environment News Service, the reason for the occasion was Padilla’s announcement of his legislation, Senate Bill 1298, which would instruct the California Highway Patrol to start “developing guidelines” around testing and ultimately unleashing self-driving vehicles on California roads.

The Google system utilizes a “laser range finder” on the car's roof, and no less than four radars mounted on the front and back bumpers. A camera keeps an eye on traffic lights.

“It was pretty amazing when Google's vehicle went into self-driving mode,” Senator Padilla said in a press release. “The drive was smooth and safe. It worked flawlessly. It is a testament to human ingenuity and the power of technology in California.”

Google product manager Anthony Levandowski returned the sentiments, adding that, “California is our home state. Our self-driving cars have safely traveled more than 200,000 miles here. We're very fortunate to have found a supporter with a strong technical background in Senator Padilla, and we look forward to working with him throughout this process."

Nevada was the first state to approve the testing of self-driving cars on public roadways last year. Along with California, Hawaii, Florida and Oklahoma are also considering similar testing.

Google is not alone. Automakers BMW, Volvo and Audi are also developing driverless car technologies. 

“The vast majority of vehicle accidents are due to human error,” Padilla declared, doubtlessly speaking on behalf of countless L.A. drivers who are sick and tired of dealing with, well, L.A. drivers. “Autonomous vehicles have the potential to significantly reduce traffic fatalities and improve safety on our roads and highways.”

Would you feel comfortable sitting back, sending text messages and checking your hair in the mirror while the car did all of the driving?

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Ah, high school. Those were the days. Well, not really. I couldn’t wait to get out of that place. Then again, my high school was the kind of place that turns up in horror movies. But hey, it’s Friday night. I’d rather imagine that I went to high school in Dillon, Texas, and Tami Taylor was my sympathetic counselor. But I digress.

I’d like to think that the students of St. Francis High School in Sacramento will go on to have much happier memories of the best years of their lives. They’ll certainly have good stories to tell their kids, like how they remember when most schools were powered by expensive electricity, and not primarily powered by the sun.

St. Francis recently installed a 253-kilowatt solar energy system to seven buildings on campus, which is expected to generate up to 31 percent of the school’s electricity, and save them a whopping $1 million in energy costs over the next 20 years.

The school’s new energy system is showcased in a new report from the Environment California Research & Policy Center, “California’s Solar Cities 2012: Leaders in the Race Toward a Clean Energy Future.” Paid for through a grant from the U.S. Treasury and through rebates from the Sacramento Municipal Utility Department (SMUD).

“Our students are excited and happy to have solar panels here at the high school,” explained Ingrid Niles, the communications director of St. Francis to the Valley Community News (wow, high schools have communications directors now?) “I think overall, our kids think having something like this is pretty cool and we hope we inspire a few of them to look at this stuff after high school.”