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How do self-driving cars deal with capacity? Even with self driving cars there isn't enough capacity on the roads for everyone. Highways are terrible at traff
by lhopki01 10y ago
How do self-driving cars deal with capacity? Even with self driving cars there isn't enough capacity on the roads for everyone. Highways are terrible at traffic throughput. To give you an example Crossrail in London has the capacity for 1 million passengers per hour while on two lines of track. An 8 lane highway struggles to manage more than 150,000 per hour. In terms of land use efficiency highways are terrible.
- CamperBob2 10y agoYes, light rail is much better at getting people from one place where they don't want to be, to another place where they don't want to be. You wouldn't judge an entire rail system based on the throughput of a single track, would you? Why judge the throughput of a networked surface vehicle system by the throughput of a single highway populated by human drivers? The other person I'm conversing with in this thread makes the valid point that vast swaths of urban land are taken up by streets. What I'm saying is that this is a feature of an effective transit system, not a bug. Nobody really wants to go from one light-rail terminal to another, but streets go everywhere.
- VintageCool 10y agoLight rail and self-driving cars will operate in tandem. The backbone will be light rail and the "last mile" will be self driving cars. A self-driving Uber car will pick up me in north Greenwood, then it will pick up another passenger, and we'll ride to Northgate Station. I'll take Light Rail to Downtown, and then walk the rest of the way to the office.
- lhopki01 10y agoHonestly a city with a well designed public transport system doesn't really need cars for the last mile. Walking and cycling covers almost everyone. Rural areas will always need cars but well cities shouldn't.
- CamperBob2 10y agoHonestly a city with a well designed public transport system doesn't really need cars for the last mile. Walking and cycling covers almost everyone. It rains here. A lot. And not everybody is a twenty-something Amazonian, Googler, or Microsoftie in the best shape of their lives.
- plandis 10y agoI think you might want to read ST3s own website [1] where they refute the self driving car claim as well as some of their methodology for determining where stops should go (hint they asked people). In fact some of the money as part of ST3 funds studies to see how ST projects can further complement potential autonomous vehicles. [1] http://soundtransit3.org/questions http://soundtransit3.org/questions
- natrius 10y agoSelf-driving buses are coming, too. Combined with the congestion pricing that will be necessary to keep self-driving cars from circling for passengers, buses are clearly the right choice. I'd still vote yes if I lived in Seattle, but with hindsight, they're probably going to regret this investment.
- lhopki01 10y agoA self driving bus still faces that capacity issue and is significantly slower. Even BRT is much slower than light rail. Sewer systems have pipes that get wider the further they go. Road systems have to do the same. The problem is that there are road systems that already have 20 lane highways. Seattle is a small city currently but it's growing and will continue to grow and there comes a point where you'll have to build absolutely massive highways right in the centre to accommodate all the self driving cars and buses.
- erispoe 10y agoSewers don't have induced demand.