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> I can't wait for [cities] to be redesigned for self-driving cars Personally, I hope it never happens. The US is still suffering from when its cities were red
by ucaetano 8y ago
> I can't wait for [cities] to be redesigned for self-driving cars
Personally, I hope it never happens. The US is still suffering from when its cities were redesigned for cars, vs. public transit and pedestrians.
Self-driving cars can and will play a very important role in transportation, but cities should be designed around people, not cars.
Edit: I'm by no means criticizing your hope, and I do agree with you that cities should be redesigned to "accommodate" self driving cars, such as "buffer garages" (where autonomous cars are parked in a FIFO way, not in the way cars are parked today), auto-charging stations, smart curbs for pick-up/drop-off, etc.
- kjeetgill 8y agoOne of the biggest issues is that the road infrastructure and the city layout is already there. Sure cities may be better if they were walkable but most people live across the full metropolitan areas. Taking the SF Bay area an example: Sure I can take the Caltrain or the Bart to get to nearly any city but it'll always be the long way around. Think San Mateo to Union City. Crossing a bridge it's direct. The road infra structure is already there and the cities are built around it. Sure there's probably some cryptic bus route but the difference right now is (with a quick google) 35 mins vs 1.5 hr. I think self driving cars have the potential to build on our car centric ecosystems. Look at how Uber/Lyft have adapted into Uber Pool and Lyft Line. They've done more to change people's driving habits than any changes to the public transportation system. I'm excited to see how self driving cars solve this by dropping the price point further and exploring larger pools.
- trhway 8y ago>Think San Mateo to Union City. Crossing a bridge it's direct. The road infra structure is already there and the cities are built around it. Sure there's probably some cryptic bus route but the difference right now is (with a quick google) 35 mins vs 1.5 hr. that is the use case best suited for flying tub https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQK9m_OBVgY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQK9m_OBVgY
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- ucaetano 8y ago> I think self driving cars have the potential to build on our car centric ecosystems. But the problem is that car-centric systems are not scalable and sustainable. Sure, self-driving cars would do well in the Bay Area, but they would only make traffic worse, as now people are willing to spend a longer time in traffic, since they are no longer driving. Self-driving cars actually remove one of the negative feedback mechanisms of traffic.
- ttul 8y agoIsn’t a self driving car fleet essentially the same as self driving public transit? Self driving cars can pick the most efficient routes to get everyone where they need to go, in a way that would not be possible if a human driver is required.
- gusmd 8y ago> Self driving cars can pick the most efficient routes to get everyone where they need to go, in a way that would not be possible if a human driver is required. What's so special about efficient routing with a driver-less car? There's no route that a human driver couldn't follow just as well if assisted by GPS software.
- notatoad 8y agoSelf driving cars aren't any more space efficient than human-driven cars. 300 cars on the road needs a lot of road, regardless of who's driving. Putting people on a train is going to be far more efficient.
- agumonkey 8y agoI guess you saw the before and after in netherlands where they replaced some streets with a trolley line and filled the remaining space with grass, trees and walkways ?