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> Would smart roads be expensive? RFID responders seem super cheap compared to how much actual asphalt costs. Authorities are currently unable to remotely contr

> Would smart roads be expensive? RFID responders seem super cheap compared to how much actual asphalt costs. Authorities are currently unable to remotely control flows, speeds and safety which is completely bonkers. Yeah its not actually that easy. Go and look into train signaling. And cars are not even able to do coupling. Making a train system operate like a super-railway with cars is crazy difficult and has never been done before.

int_19h 4y ago
But is it more crazy difficult than making a car that knows how to safely drive on roads designed specifically for humans? That said, I think even just basic machine-readable road metadata like signs, speed limits, lanes etc would improve matters.
- panick21_ 4y ago
  > That said, I think even just basic machine-readable road metadata like signs, speed limits, lanes etc would improve matters. That assumes that sign reading is the primary issue with AI cars and it isn't. If you are willing to go to that expense and infrastructure investment, why not just build thing like trains (trams, subways, S-Bahn) and things like Trolley buses and so on. They are far more space efficient, you get much higher threwput then your untested fancy road infrastructure. Another issue with your solution is that there are 1 billion cars out there that do not have any of these things so after decades of working on it, you will still have decades where most cars don't use any of this stuff.
  - int_19h 4y ago
    I'm not saying that it is a primary issue, but all of these issues come up with Teslas occasionally - just read some of the comments here. More importantly, even if this kind of stuff doesn't enable full self-driving, it can still be used to make basic driving assistance much better - think of even the most basic cars having lane assist on most road, for example. I don't think it's a significant expense, either. I'm not talking about ripping up roads and replacing all signs in one fell swoop. But e.g. when they redid the highway near me recently, it got little reflectors to mark the lanes. What if, say, every Nth of those had some kind of RFID thing in it? Or when they replace signs, why not put up a new one that broadcasts what it is? None of this is particularly expensive. As to why not trains and buses - because they do not actually offer the same features as cars, and many people want those features. If you want to argue against cars on principle, it's a different conversation entirely. I do think that more quality public transport is desperately needed, but, speaking as someone who used it nearly exclusively for the first 25 years of my life (and in places that are designed around it, unlike US), it does not replace a car.
  - dzhiurgis 4y ago
    You seem to contradict yourself - train signalling is hard, but lets build trains..? My point the road metadata isn't for collision avoidance, but for better lane and speed assist.

int_19h 4y ago

But is it more crazy difficult than making a car that knows how to safely drive on roads designed specifically for humans? That said, I think even just basic machine-readable road metadata like signs, speed limits, lanes etc would improve matters.

panick21_ 4y ago
> That said, I think even just basic machine-readable road metadata like signs, speed limits, lanes etc would improve matters. That assumes that sign reading is the primary issue with AI cars and it isn't. If you are willing to go to that expense and infrastructure investment, why not just build thing like trains (trams, subways, S-Bahn) and things like Trolley buses and so on. They are far more space efficient, you get much higher threwput then your untested fancy road infrastructure. Another issue with your solution is that there are 1 billion cars out there that do not have any of these things so after decades of working on it, you will still have decades where most cars don't use any of this stuff.
- int_19h 4y ago
  I'm not saying that it is a primary issue, but all of these issues come up with Teslas occasionally - just read some of the comments here. More importantly, even if this kind of stuff doesn't enable full self-driving, it can still be used to make basic driving assistance much better - think of even the most basic cars having lane assist on most road, for example. I don't think it's a significant expense, either. I'm not talking about ripping up roads and replacing all signs in one fell swoop. But e.g. when they redid the highway near me recently, it got little reflectors to mark the lanes. What if, say, every Nth of those had some kind of RFID thing in it? Or when they replace signs, why not put up a new one that broadcasts what it is? None of this is particularly expensive. As to why not trains and buses - because they do not actually offer the same features as cars, and many people want those features. If you want to argue against cars on principle, it's a different conversation entirely. I do think that more quality public transport is desperately needed, but, speaking as someone who used it nearly exclusively for the first 25 years of my life (and in places that are designed around it, unlike US), it does not replace a car.
- dzhiurgis 4y ago
  You seem to contradict yourself - train signalling is hard, but lets build trains..? My point the road metadata isn't for collision avoidance, but for better lane and speed assist.