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Self driving cars are the mass transit of low-density suburbia. Electric AVs in the next 10 years would be a significantly cheaper solution than remaking US in
by woolvalley 9y ago
Self driving cars are the mass transit of low-density suburbia. Electric AVs in the next 10 years would be a significantly cheaper solution than remaking US infrastructure & political culture to be more transit friendly. That is why americans are especially excited about them.
- petre 9y agoWhat's wrong with having a bus + driver service low density suburbia today, than a number of self driving cars? Even a minibus.
- bdamm 9y agoFar too expensive to operate a sufficiently useful transit system for insufficient ridership to support it. The density does not allow the economics to work out.
- vostrocity 9y agoBusses don't get cleaned often, lack modern creature comforts like leather surfaces and music, have distractingly bad noise/vibration/harshness, etc.
- dotancohen 9y agoAll of those concerns are much more easily addressed individually than by developing a vehicle that drives itself. There is no reason why a 14-passenger 8 ton Mercedes minivan could not be used as a small, relatively frequent bus as opposed to the huge, noisy MAN 40 ton chassis.
- kelnos 9y agoUsage is low enough and destinations are various and sparse and distant enough that sufficient coverage to be useful would be prohibitively expensive, while incredibly under-utilized. You really need something more on-demand that will take you door-to-door.