3 ms·

I have to disagree. Most traffic jams are more a factor of human nature then anything else. Ever been in a slowdown due to drivers checking out a fender bende

• strange_quark 9y ago
  > Most traffic jams are more a factor of human nature then anything else. Ever been in a slowdown due to drivers checking out a fender bender going in the other direction on a divided highway? Combine the lack of unneeded slow downs with closer following distances with fewer crashes and road capacity will go way up. Even with autonomous cars, roadways still have a peak capacity. Yes, the peak capacity will probably go up if every driver is driving "perfectly", but there will still be plenty of bottlenecks, whether those are slower moving trucks, crosswalks, traffic signals, etc. I'd guess that we might even see more traffic than we currently have because if you don't have to drive yourself, people are incentivized to take their car; even if it's slower than mass transit, sitting in your own car is more pleasant for most people than a train or bus.
• sokoloff 9y ago
  Morning and evening rush hours are still going to be a thing. If autonomous vehicles reduce the per-vehicle impact of rush hours, I expect that we'll just start seeing more cars participating in rush hours via induced demand. (People will not avoid them as much; people will switch from public transport to private autonomous transport; people will be more willing to live farther from work for cheaper housing/more land/whatever.)