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...which is why Google is doing god's work with it's self-driving cars. Pundits don’t seem to realize just how big a deal this is – it could let citie

• _delirium 15y ago
  I would put the odds of that being used in cities in the foreseeable future pretty low. Much more likely to get approved for low-density, straight-line highway travel imo, like what the current talks in Nevada are contemplating. Alternatives also have political problems, but overall I'd probably bet on the miracle of cities actually building decent subway systems, unlikely as it is, before betting on the miracle of cities approving fully automated cars in urban traffic. I think both are basically political problems, as well, contrary to his claim that mass transit is inherently difficult due to the size of investment. It's not super-cheap, but a city in a wealthy Western country can build a subway network without that much trouble, and some American cities have done so much more recently than NYC, but have been stymied mainly by politics. For example, DC's system has been built out pretty well, and Atlanta's started, but expansion was killed in the 80s for political reasons (some of them race-tinged).
  • chipsy 15y ago
    I would guess that PRT systems will start to make inroads in favor of new subways or rail. They share a lot of the benefits of autodriving cars, but they're based on far more mature technologies, and the cost of rail and rolling stock is far below older rail systems because the scale is smaller. But like you say, the issues are mainly political.