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The main obstacle to better transit in a developed countries is the cost and scarcity of labor. An automated bus would basically eliminate most of the running c
by bobthepanda 3y ago
The main obstacle to better transit in a developed countries is the cost and scarcity of labor. An automated bus would basically eliminate most of the running cost; make it electric and it would be pennies on the dollar compared to running a bus today.
- 7e 3y agoI think an automated bus would have enough electronics such that it would cost a lot more than the bus driver for a long, long time. At least that's the status quo. A Waymo car costs a lot more than a $7K Uber Prius.
- ZoomerCretin 3y agoTime to bring back trolley cars!
- ecolonsmak 3y agoOr a way to have automobiles behave like trolley cars during the segment of the journey that makes the most sense.
- bobthepanda 3y agoUnless people start standing in personal cars, mass transit will always have a higher capacity. That, and its significantly easier to make every bus have a wheelchair space or two than to retrofit every car to be wheelchair accessible.
- xnx 3y agoSelf driving technology (sensors, processing, etc.) gets dramatically cheaper every year, but bus drivers get more expensive. The $200K of equipment that goes on a self-driving car now might drop to $50K in 5 years time.
- bobthepanda 3y agoIt might actually be easier to amortize over the cost of a bus. The lifespan the Federal Transit Administration replaces buses at is 12 years, longer than a consumer keeps their car.