3 ms·

Thanks for the response and totally agree with the sitting in traffic, wasted time thing ,but with all due respect it still seems inefficient, wouldn't public t

Thanks for the response and totally agree with the sitting in traffic, wasted time thing ,but with all due respect it still seems inefficient, wouldn't public transport and telecommuting be better options in a connected world? How will there still be no traffic jams, or the car will be like an office? In that case why not just work from home and come to work for meetings here and there? Might flexible / less work hours help? I mean people will still be driving around in vehicle which often makes people motion sick if not paying attention to surroundings , cars requires a lot of energy, take up space etc. I used to travel to work via train, it was 1.5 hours one way, it was highly productive time for me, but for some reason trains don't seem to make people as motion sick? I guess one other thing to note is that in Australia, where I'm from originally, some see people think of others using public transport or biking as kind of peasants or feel it's inferior, that might be part of it too ? They're also the kind of people who often like to drive fast and own expensive cars as a status thing, so I'm still note sure it's going to take?

abawany 10y ago
I fully agree: most rational nations have invested in public transportation to solve this problem. The US has a myriad of problems that has made public transportation an afterthought and not viable for most of the country. I also agree that telecommuting or flexible hours would work well. But again, for most office workers in the country and world, there is significant inflexibility: they must arrive at their appointed time, leave at their appointed time, and take breaks at appointed times. My statement was intended to be broad and to apply to all workers instead of just for the high-tech industry. So I see self-driving cars as a backdoor solution to the above problems: replace regular cars with self-driving cars, maybe with car-sharing, and now a country that has so much invested in the car suddenly is able to significantly reduce the latter's influence on society without realizing it. Well, one can but hope anyways.
tstrimple 10y ago
The more human drivers that are replaced by software, the less congestion there will be on the roads. It's delays in human reaction times which cause cars to back up on roads and take forever to get through intersections. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHzzSao6ypE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHzzSao6ypE
- pmyjavec 10y ago
  I still don't see how the cars are going to entirely solve the problem of everyone needing to be in the same place at the same time, they still have to cope with each others presence, unless they can fly. In my opinion a good public transport system does. I've spent time in Tokyo, the rail network is second to none, it's congested sure, but it works. The problem is that people still need to get in and out of the cars for example, which means there is still wait time. Breakdowns will happen. All humans drivers will have to be banned etc. It sounds to me like the auto-industry is still pushing a selfish agenda and the valley is buying it, because it's an opportunity to take more money. For me, I'm happy because I'll still ride my bike and it will be a much safer place for me to exist because self-driving cars won't try and kill me, hopefully :)
Tiktaalik 10y ago
It's incredibly frustrating that people are getting excited for autonomous cars' ability to free them from the drudgery of driving when this has been a solved problem for a long time with public transit. Unfortunately anti-public transit special interest groups have discredited public transit initiatives all over, and fighting this has been incredibly difficult. On your last point people definitely do see owning expensive cars as a status item and for this reason I think it's valid to question to what degree and speed will autonomous car sharing networks replace individually owned cars.
- imh 10y ago
  I fully expect self driving cars to arrive before BART goes all the way down the peninsula. It's total crap, but I'd be surprised if it wasn't true. Same for more frequent/faster/more reliable caltrain with room to sit or bring your bike. On one side, you have a solution that requires a whole bunch of groups to align. On the other, you have an individual decision (buying a car). That's why I am excited. If it looked like it was on the horizon, I'd be just as excited for great public transit.

abawany 10y ago

I fully agree: most rational nations have invested in public transportation to solve this problem. The US has a myriad of problems that has made public transportation an afterthought and not viable for most of the country. I also agree that telecommuting or flexible hours would work well. But again, for most office workers in the country and world, there is significant inflexibility: they must arrive at their appointed time, leave at their appointed time, and take breaks at appointed times. My statement was intended to be broad and to apply to all workers instead of just for the high-tech industry. So I see self-driving cars as a backdoor solution to the above problems: replace regular cars with self-driving cars, maybe with car-sharing, and now a country that has so much invested in the car suddenly is able to significantly reduce the latter's influence on society without realizing it. Well, one can but hope anyways.

tstrimple 10y ago

The more human drivers that are replaced by software, the less congestion there will be on the roads. It's delays in human reaction times which cause cars to back up on roads and take forever to get through intersections. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHzzSao6ypE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHzzSao6ypE

pmyjavec 10y ago
I still don't see how the cars are going to entirely solve the problem of everyone needing to be in the same place at the same time, they still have to cope with each others presence, unless they can fly. In my opinion a good public transport system does. I've spent time in Tokyo, the rail network is second to none, it's congested sure, but it works. The problem is that people still need to get in and out of the cars for example, which means there is still wait time. Breakdowns will happen. All humans drivers will have to be banned etc. It sounds to me like the auto-industry is still pushing a selfish agenda and the valley is buying it, because it's an opportunity to take more money. For me, I'm happy because I'll still ride my bike and it will be a much safer place for me to exist because self-driving cars won't try and kill me, hopefully :)

Tiktaalik 10y ago

It's incredibly frustrating that people are getting excited for autonomous cars' ability to free them from the drudgery of driving when this has been a solved problem for a long time with public transit. Unfortunately anti-public transit special interest groups have discredited public transit initiatives all over, and fighting this has been incredibly difficult. On your last point people definitely do see owning expensive cars as a status item and for this reason I think it's valid to question to what degree and speed will autonomous car sharing networks replace individually owned cars.

imh 10y ago
I fully expect self driving cars to arrive before BART goes all the way down the peninsula. It's total crap, but I'd be surprised if it wasn't true. Same for more frequent/faster/more reliable caltrain with room to sit or bring your bike. On one side, you have a solution that requires a whole bunch of groups to align. On the other, you have an individual decision (buying a car). That's why I am excited. If it looked like it was on the horizon, I'd be just as excited for great public transit.