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Demand for cars is still huge during rush hours. Lots of cars sit idle during low demand times, but that capacity is still needed to meet high demand times. Th

by ssharp 11y ago

Demand for cars is still huge during rush hours. Lots of cars sit idle during low demand times, but that capacity is still needed to meet high demand times. The problem isn't getting people into the same car. The bigger problem is getting people into the same car at the same time. Sure, self-driving cars can work with each other in ways human drivers can't to minimize congestion, but until you start removing cars from the road, it will still be an issue.

dublinben 11y ago
Uber Pool and Lyft Line are already paving the way for car sharing along popular commutes. In the future, you will face the option of a ride home in a self-driving car either alone for $15, or with two other passengers for $5. The decision will be pretty easy for most people.
- toomuchtodo 11y ago
  Or Google Now will simply suggest people in your area you could commute with, based on its aggregation of your daily commute data with the data of others, based on the time you leave every day. Or perhaps Google Maps will do that. It supports Uber internally as a travel option, no? Wouldn't it be interesting if that dropped away and was replaced with Google's self-driving car scheme one night?
  - dublinben 11y ago
    Excellent point. The actual service providing this transportation shouldn't matter. Passengers just want to arrive at their destination. Let the system figure out how to get them there.
- ssharp 11y ago
  Is there any indication or evidence that this will be successful at a massive scale? Quite frankly, at those prices, I'm not sure either has an appeal greater than my own car, sitting in my garage, available whenever I want. I'm extremely sceptical that all the people I see driving on the freeway every day would rather sit in a Prius with three strangers twice a day on their morning and evening commutes. I think driverless cars are the future of transportation, I'm just not certain that driverless cars and car sharing will be married at the hip from day one. There is lots to figure out to make car sharing appealing at a larger scale than it already is. Most of the things I see suggested just don't have enough appeal to convince me that people will change their current behaviors for them.
  - dublinben 11y ago
    If you're paying to keep a car sitting in your garage, you're already paying more than it would cost to rideshare to and from work. If you value your time at all, not having to drive yourself for 60 minutes each day easily covers the direct cost associated with the ride.
toomuchtodo 11y ago
> Demand for cars is still huge during rush hours. Lots of cars sit idle during low demand times, but that capacity is still needed to meet high demand times. That's a bit easier to solve. Congestion pricing along with economic incentives to employers who employee remote workers. Traffic is an externality; if you absolutely need workers on site somewhere in a dense urban area, you can do so, but you're going to pay for the privilege of all that infrastructure you're tying up.
Vik1ng 11y ago
The reality is that public transport will always be the superior solution. No matter how big you make the highway some trains are always going to beat traffic. Combine that with some Park&Ride places on the outskirts and bus/subway/tram in the city.

by ssharp 11y ago

dublinben 11y ago

Uber Pool and Lyft Line are already paving the way for car sharing along popular commutes. In the future, you will face the option of a ride home in a self-driving car either alone for $15, or with two other passengers for $5. The decision will be pretty easy for most people.

toomuchtodo 11y ago
Or Google Now will simply suggest people in your area you could commute with, based on its aggregation of your daily commute data with the data of others, based on the time you leave every day. Or perhaps Google Maps will do that. It supports Uber internally as a travel option, no? Wouldn't it be interesting if that dropped away and was replaced with Google's self-driving car scheme one night?
- dublinben 11y ago
  Excellent point. The actual service providing this transportation shouldn't matter. Passengers just want to arrive at their destination. Let the system figure out how to get them there.
ssharp 11y ago
Is there any indication or evidence that this will be successful at a massive scale? Quite frankly, at those prices, I'm not sure either has an appeal greater than my own car, sitting in my garage, available whenever I want. I'm extremely sceptical that all the people I see driving on the freeway every day would rather sit in a Prius with three strangers twice a day on their morning and evening commutes. I think driverless cars are the future of transportation, I'm just not certain that driverless cars and car sharing will be married at the hip from day one. There is lots to figure out to make car sharing appealing at a larger scale than it already is. Most of the things I see suggested just don't have enough appeal to convince me that people will change their current behaviors for them.
- dublinben 11y ago
  If you're paying to keep a car sitting in your garage, you're already paying more than it would cost to rideshare to and from work. If you value your time at all, not having to drive yourself for 60 minutes each day easily covers the direct cost associated with the ride.

toomuchtodo 11y ago

> Demand for cars is still huge during rush hours. Lots of cars sit idle during low demand times, but that capacity is still needed to meet high demand times. That's a bit easier to solve. Congestion pricing along with economic incentives to employers who employee remote workers. Traffic is an externality; if you absolutely need workers on site somewhere in a dense urban area, you can do so, but you're going to pay for the privilege of all that infrastructure you're tying up.

Vik1ng 11y ago

The reality is that public transport will always be the superior solution. No matter how big you make the highway some trains are always going to beat traffic. Combine that with some Park&Ride places on the outskirts and bus/subway/tram in the city.