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I think the fact this article talks about "your car" demonstrates the failure of the journalist to understand the fundamental change that autonomous cars bring

by awjr 11y ago

I think the fact this article talks about "your car" demonstrates the failure of the journalist to understand the fundamental change that autonomous cars bring to society. Cars will become a "transport as a service" solution. Just as Uber is already allowing people in Urban environments not to own a car, so driverless cars will accelerate the process. Expect a revolution in bus services. A type of transport that has fundamentally not changed since it's inception in the 1800s. Now you will be able to have on-demand bus services that take you from your nearest bus stop to the bus stop you need to go to. Expect a bus to be of any size, delivering the solution for the capacity needed on the planned route. That 3am journey might be a seconded 2 person pod from the local community service fleet provided by a local authority, compared to the 24 seater used at 8am by a dedicated bus service provider. People need to stop thinking about "cars" and start thinking in terms of the intelligent mobile "seat". Oh and his "errands" to the dry cleaners story. Why would an owner put that into his boot??? Why would they not use a personal delivery service, a mini-van with multiple security coded "boot spaces", that comes directly to your door, allows you to put things into the boot space, then delivers it to the business. The delivery service could even drop off a container for you to fill and then come by later to collect it. Either I'm thinking about this WAY too much in my spare time (I campaign on transport) or that journalist is not doing their job properly.

SerLava 11y ago
I think people are going to take it in baby steps. There are a lot of advantages to simply owning a car. If you aren't in a dense city, they vastly outweigh the hassles inherent in any type of non-owned transportation. People really are short on time. Waiting for the vehicle and even having to stand outside aren't great - you may even have to worry a bit more about the clothes you're wearing in the heat or cold. It's the little taxes on everything. Plus whenever you share a ride, someone's going to have to take a detour of some distance.
- awjr 11y ago
  Many of those things are overcome-able. For example you could ask for a car to get you to X by Y time. You will then be informed when that car will pick you up. You can then accept that ride or choose a more direct and expensive option. Considering you will be able to see on your smartphone exactly where your ride is and when it will be at your destination, you should be able to walk straight out of your home and step into the vehicle. I'm not precluding the fact that rural/suburbs will still have people owning and using cars, however looking just at the UK, as public transport (buses) have scaled back in the rural space to save money, car ownership has gone up. In cities, car ownership is dropping, but public transport is better supported. A rural public transport system that allows an "on-demand" service where you can be taken directly to the bus stop you want to go to, rather than into a central point, where you have to change onto another bus to get to the place you want to will no longer happen. Yes you will still have such systems in cities as they obviously work but I see public transport in less dense areas becoming more of a "grid" solution. There will no longer be a bus schedule. You will just use your smart device to request a service from A to B with an arrival time.

by awjr 11y ago

SerLava 11y ago

I think people are going to take it in baby steps. There are a lot of advantages to simply owning a car. If you aren't in a dense city, they vastly outweigh the hassles inherent in any type of non-owned transportation. People really are short on time. Waiting for the vehicle and even having to stand outside aren't great - you may even have to worry a bit more about the clothes you're wearing in the heat or cold. It's the little taxes on everything. Plus whenever you share a ride, someone's going to have to take a detour of some distance.

awjr 11y ago
Many of those things are overcome-able. For example you could ask for a car to get you to X by Y time. You will then be informed when that car will pick you up. You can then accept that ride or choose a more direct and expensive option. Considering you will be able to see on your smartphone exactly where your ride is and when it will be at your destination, you should be able to walk straight out of your home and step into the vehicle. I'm not precluding the fact that rural/suburbs will still have people owning and using cars, however looking just at the UK, as public transport (buses) have scaled back in the rural space to save money, car ownership has gone up. In cities, car ownership is dropping, but public transport is better supported. A rural public transport system that allows an "on-demand" service where you can be taken directly to the bus stop you want to go to, rather than into a central point, where you have to change onto another bus to get to the place you want to will no longer happen. Yes you will still have such systems in cities as they obviously work but I see public transport in less dense areas becoming more of a "grid" solution. There will no longer be a bus schedule. You will just use your smart device to request a service from A to B with an arrival time.