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Couldn't self driving cars even cause congestion to get worse, by making long commutes more convenient, and making driving more convenient than public transit?

Couldn't self driving cars even cause congestion to get worse, by making long commutes more convenient, and making driving more convenient than public transit? Currently long commutes are a strong incentive to live closer to where you work. Reducing the inconvenience of commuting in a car means that more people will live further from the city center or public transit. Additionally, living further from the city center means housing or rent is cheaper. That means that more people will commute longer distances. This applies to other situations as well, like getting downtown on Friday night or to the beach on Saturday. Maybe self driving cars will be so convenient that people don't mind spending time in them, such that people spend far more time in cars than they do now.

ryandrake 11y ago
Even with the extra congestion, it's a win because the congestion is no longer as stressful as when you have to deal with it as a driver. My commute to the Bay Area is about 2 hours each way. Let's say self-driving cars added 30 minutes due to extra (self driving) cars on the road. I'd be totally fine with that if it meant I wasn't white-knuckling it down I880 myself every day. I could get some work done while my cyber-driver stresses out.
- pjc50 11y ago
  When the commute increases to four hours, you can do a full eight-hour day in the car, arriving at work just in time to have lunch with colleagues before starting the commute home again!
  - serge2k 11y ago
    ha, as if the commute time would come out of the work part of your day. Instead you would get home and go right to bed so you can wake up in time to go to work.
mxfh 11y ago
In commute mode self-driving interconnected cars or shuttles could enter in some kind of virtual train mode that would enable them to drive at much lower safety distance or virtually bumper to bumper thereby vastly improving the road capacity while also reducing the drag each car has to deal with. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Safe_Road_Trains_for_the_Environment https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Safe_Road_Trains_for_the_Envir...
- foobarian 11y ago
  > some kind of virtual train mode that would enable them to drive at much lower safety distance or virtually bumper to bumper You just described the Massachusetts Turnpike going into Boston on most mornings :-)

ryandrake 11y ago

Even with the extra congestion, it's a win because the congestion is no longer as stressful as when you have to deal with it as a driver. My commute to the Bay Area is about 2 hours each way. Let's say self-driving cars added 30 minutes due to extra (self driving) cars on the road. I'd be totally fine with that if it meant I wasn't white-knuckling it down I880 myself every day. I could get some work done while my cyber-driver stresses out.

pjc50 11y ago
When the commute increases to four hours, you can do a full eight-hour day in the car, arriving at work just in time to have lunch with colleagues before starting the commute home again!
- serge2k 11y ago
  ha, as if the commute time would come out of the work part of your day. Instead you would get home and go right to bed so you can wake up in time to go to work.

mxfh 11y ago

In commute mode self-driving interconnected cars or shuttles could enter in some kind of virtual train mode that would enable them to drive at much lower safety distance or virtually bumper to bumper thereby vastly improving the road capacity while also reducing the drag each car has to deal with. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Safe_Road_Trains_for_the_Environment https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Safe_Road_Trains_for_the_Envir...

foobarian 11y ago
> some kind of virtual train mode that would enable them to drive at much lower safety distance or virtually bumper to bumper You just described the Massachusetts Turnpike going into Boston on most mornings :-)