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It doesn't have to be an all-or-nothing proposition. For example, just augmenting interstate highways to enable reliable autonomous driving would be a complete

It doesn't have to be an all-or-nothing proposition. For example, just augmenting interstate highways to enable reliable autonomous driving would be a complete game changer for commerce, let alone personal use. Let the driver drive the car manually for the last mile of travel. Most of the problems of autonomous driving are on the last mile (pedestrians, unmarked roads, poor lighting, school crossings, train crossings, etc.). The last mile is the most expensive to outfit and maintain, too. I wouldn't be disappointed at all to find that in the future, cars drive by themselves 80% of the time, and humans take over for the tricky 20%. If the roadway isn't autonomous-ready the car shouldn't become a brick. You just drive it manually.

CaptainZapp 8y ago
Who pays for that? You would either have to add massive taxes to road usage (not just gas), heavily tax automobile ownership or use general purpose taxes for such very expensive upgrades. As a non-owner of a car I would balk at the last option.
- ex3ndr 8y ago
  Roads already refreshed regularly, may be some specific color will be enought.
  - magduf 8y ago
    >Roads already refreshed regularly You don't live in the US, do you?
    - ex3ndr 8y ago
      regularly doesn't mean yearly, but 10 year interval is okeyish for slow infrastructure upgrade.
      - magduf 8y ago
        Here in DC, we don't update roads nearly that often, judging by all the potholes.
        ex3ndr 8y ago
        Road lines are colored yearly or something like this on most streets
- copperx 8y ago
  You're assuming the upgrades will be extraordinarily expensive. What if what is required is something as simple as radar-reflecting paint, and somehow encoding additional information in the markings? Or maybe all cars should have an RFID-like thing on their bumpers to make car detection more reliable. The gov't could distribute that bumper sticker along with the car registration sticker. You could enforce that in the annual inspection. Sure, a car that doesn't need any aids is much cooler. But if you look at the history of technology, especially in the PC world, there were a lot of clever hacks and external aids that had to be used in order to make the tech feasible. Then with time, they were rendered unnecessary.

CaptainZapp 8y ago

Who pays for that? You would either have to add massive taxes to road usage (not just gas), heavily tax automobile ownership or use general purpose taxes for such very expensive upgrades. As a non-owner of a car I would balk at the last option.

ex3ndr 8y ago
Roads already refreshed regularly, may be some specific color will be enought.
- magduf 8y ago
  >Roads already refreshed regularly You don't live in the US, do you?
  - ex3ndr 8y ago
    regularly doesn't mean yearly, but 10 year interval is okeyish for slow infrastructure upgrade.
    - magduf 8y ago
      Here in DC, we don't update roads nearly that often, judging by all the potholes.
      - ex3ndr 8y ago
        Road lines are colored yearly or something like this on most streets
copperx 8y ago
You're assuming the upgrades will be extraordinarily expensive. What if what is required is something as simple as radar-reflecting paint, and somehow encoding additional information in the markings? Or maybe all cars should have an RFID-like thing on their bumpers to make car detection more reliable. The gov't could distribute that bumper sticker along with the car registration sticker. You could enforce that in the annual inspection. Sure, a car that doesn't need any aids is much cooler. But if you look at the history of technology, especially in the PC world, there were a lot of clever hacks and external aids that had to be used in order to make the tech feasible. Then with time, they were rendered unnecessary.