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Delivery trucks are quite annoying and accidentally drive over people sometimes... At some point drones will probably be better than that (not yet). Every time

Delivery trucks are quite annoying and accidentally drive over people sometimes... At some point drones will probably be better than that (not yet). Every time I go to my city center with the train, from the train station I first have to cross a few busy streets with a lot of car and truck traffic before getting to the walkable parts. Only then it feels I'm actually in the city. Probably one could easily measure the stress level lowering. Would drones make it better or worse? Maybe they could fly high and operate on rooftops, unnoticeable from street level?

Retric 4y ago
NYC has had a handful of fatal helicopter crashes and largely banned helicopter pads in the city even though they such flights where never very common. The idea that say 10,000+ large drones can safely and continuously fly over a city is ludicrous. You could use even larger drones to cut down on flights but now they’re even more dangerous. Rather than drones the obvious safe solution is to use small tunnels for underground delivery which various cities have used at small scales, but such dedicated infrastructure isn’t cost effective. And delivery drivers aren’t common enough to make a real difference by taking them off the road. However, several same day package delivery companies do make use of the subway.
- Gravityloss 4y ago
  Tunnels indeed would be good. But I understand there the problem is scale. It's not so easy to make a large amount of small tunnels for traffic? (They are possible for piping though for some reason). But easier to make one big tunnel. For drones, it's the opposite, they are very well suited for very small point to point connection, there is basically no infrastructure needed between the points whatsoever?
  - withinboredom 4y ago
    Right. There’s no infrastructure needed, just already existing infrastructure like power lines, telephone poles, radio towers, buildings, gusts of wind, signs, etc.
    - Retric 4y ago
      Yes they don’t need infrastructure, but there is a cost to using the air. The risk that your drone fails and harms someone, someone’s property, or even just the drone itself. Plus the additional risk that you get banned from using this airspace.
- sitkack 4y ago
  NYC already had mail tunnels that were shutdown to use trucks. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pneumatic_tube_mail_in_New_York_City https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pneumatic_tube_mail_in_New_Yor...

Retric 4y ago

NYC has had a handful of fatal helicopter crashes and largely banned helicopter pads in the city even though they such flights where never very common. The idea that say 10,000+ large drones can safely and continuously fly over a city is ludicrous. You could use even larger drones to cut down on flights but now they’re even more dangerous. Rather than drones the obvious safe solution is to use small tunnels for underground delivery which various cities have used at small scales, but such dedicated infrastructure isn’t cost effective. And delivery drivers aren’t common enough to make a real difference by taking them off the road. However, several same day package delivery companies do make use of the subway.

Gravityloss 4y ago
Tunnels indeed would be good. But I understand there the problem is scale. It's not so easy to make a large amount of small tunnels for traffic? (They are possible for piping though for some reason). But easier to make one big tunnel. For drones, it's the opposite, they are very well suited for very small point to point connection, there is basically no infrastructure needed between the points whatsoever?
- withinboredom 4y ago
  Right. There’s no infrastructure needed, just already existing infrastructure like power lines, telephone poles, radio towers, buildings, gusts of wind, signs, etc.
  - Retric 4y ago
    Yes they don’t need infrastructure, but there is a cost to using the air. The risk that your drone fails and harms someone, someone’s property, or even just the drone itself. Plus the additional risk that you get banned from using this airspace.
sitkack 4y ago
NYC already had mail tunnels that were shutdown to use trucks. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pneumatic_tube_mail_in_New_York_City https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pneumatic_tube_mail_in_New_Yor...