6 ms·
Self-driving cars will render these obsolete
by oarabbus_ 7y ago
Self-driving cars will render these obsolete
- OrangeMango 7y ago> Self-driving cars will render these obsolete They already are [1]: > If you park your car on the lower level of the Millennium Lakeside Garage under Maggie Daley Park, you might feel like you've just pulled into a subterranean car dealership. > Rows of new and used Volkswagens and Hondas—nearly 400 in total—fill a lot of the space. You might spot a worker painting a Jetta with a spray gun. The level above has a more nautical feel, with dozens of empty boat trailers. > Yet the garage still isn't close to full, a problem for the international joint venture that paid $370 million in 2016 to lease it and three other city-owned garages under Millennium and Grant parks. With 9,176 spaces, the garages constitute the largest underground parking system in the country. At 3.8 million square feet, it's almost as big as Willis Tower. > It's actually too big, which is why Rick West, the executive who runs the garages, is exploring creative ways to fill excess space in Lakeside, the easternmost and largest garage, with 3,850 spaces. He'd like to convert part of it into warehouse space, even hiring a brokerage to market the property to logistics firms. But he hasn't landed any tenants yet. > "I'm really looking at anything and everything having to do with mobility—that could be mobility of people or mobility of things," says West, CEO of Millennium Garages. "How do I keep this asset relevant for the next many, many decades?" [1] https://www.chicagobusiness.com/commercial-real-estate/prime-lakefront-real-estate-seems-impossible-fill https://www.chicagobusiness.com/commercial-real-estate/prime...
- cylinder 7y agoYou'd think he'd try to ponder those questions before investing $370 million of other people's money.
- lotsofpulp 7y agoI would think other people would ponder those questions before giving someone else their money.
- ng-user 7y agoIn 2050, maybe.
- soperj 7y agoSelf-driving cars will make the entire world a parking lot.
- sp332 7y agoIs your self-driving car going to take up less space or something?
- andrewmunsell 7y agoThe idea is that a self-driving car rarely has to park, it can simply drive around for your entire 8-hour work day after dropping you off. Or, maybe provide some ride-sharing services instead to be more useful and profitable.
- sp332 7y agoI would guess that parking in a parking lot is preferable to continuing to waste fuel and make traffic worse for the entire work day. Not to mention the other hours in a day you're not driving it.
- andrewmunsell 7y agoYes, that's a pretty common counterargument. Having a large number of autonomous cars roaming the streets during the day like zombies isn't really sustainable. But, with companies like Tesla promoting the idea that you car could be productive via ride sharing during the day, it might prevent the cars from at least wandering aimlessly. Fortunately, many self-driving car companies are using alternative fuel vehicles (Cruise uses the Bolt, Tesla is obviously electric, Waymo has the i-Pace and Pacifica Hybrids), and things like inductive charging are also helpful for complete autonomy so the future of autonomous zombie cars may involve fewer tailpipe emissions at least :)
- Digory 7y agoCars by Bird, Sedans by Lime. It seems less promising, now that I see the piles of scooters in downtowns.
- marpstar 7y agoI believe GP is referring to the idea that when self-driving cars make up a majority of transportation, the cars can just go drive for someone else instead of sitting in a lot.
- andys627 7y agoI don't think they will. The first argument in the article is that people buy these lots to hold and resell later at a higher price when the neighborhood improves. Parking income just pays a little while they wait.
- yellowapple 7y agoI don't think it will. The parking ain't the point; it's just a bit of side cash to make off the lot to cover the property taxes until eventual resale. It'll probably find other uses (e.g. food trucks). Even if it was the point, stick a charger on every space and BAM! now you've got a reason to let your electric self-driving car park there instead of wasting battery driving all the way back home only to drive all the way back to you and home again later.
- steelframe 7y agoI for one am holding out for self-driving flying fusion-powered room temperature quantum computer cars that will run a panel of blood tests from a single prick of the finger.