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Someone needs to pay for the fuel. Someone needs to pay for the insurance. Someone needs to pay for parking, the technical development, the maintenance, and the

Someone needs to pay for the fuel. Someone needs to pay for the insurance. Someone needs to pay for parking, the technical development, the maintenance, and the infrastructure. Guess who that someone is? You. In the fees you pay for this service (or in taxes that subsidize it). No matter how much tech you throw at it, walking down to the corner market for vegetables is more efficient (in a purely value/cost sense) than driving the same amount of time. My wife and I lived in New York for several years. We walked a few blocks to the grocery nearly every day. Was it awesome every time? Honestly, no. Winters can be brutal. But it was better than trying to hail a cab and wasting 10 bucks. And in the end, it felt good. Walking a little every day is good for you. I think driverless cars will eventually revolutionize longer trips, but I don't see it competing with living in urban cores much. Many people want to be able to walk or ride a bicycle as part of their daily routine. Many people want to be in close physical proximity to other people. Driverless cars don't reduce any of these desires.

learc83 15y ago
>Someone needs to pay for the fuel. Someone needs to pay for the insurance. Someone needs to pay for parking, the technical development, the maintenance, and the infrastructure. Of course they do. But the average car is only driven a few hours a day. If you take the total fixed costs of a car and divide it amongst dozens of people, it's much cheaper than ownership. I also expect insurance prices to drop dramatically for self driving cars, given that over 90% of accidents are caused by human error. Additionally I don't think parking will be a problem with all of the now empty driveways of former car owners. Just give a discount for zip car service to customers in exchange for using their driveways to park downtime cars. >But it was better than trying to hail a cab and wasting 10 bucks. And in the end, it felt good. Walking a little every day is good for you. >Many people want to be able to walk or ride a bicycle as part of their daily routine. Many people want to be in close physical proximity to other people. All of those are true and I think given demographic shifts--people marrying and having kids later, resulting in more single or childless 20-30 year olds--we will definitely see growth in urban centers. However, I think it's almost purely a result of demographic shifts not some new desire to live in cities. Young childless people have always wanted to live in the city, we just have more of them than we used to.
- aboodman 15y ago
  > Of course they do. But the average car is only driven a few hours a day. If you take the total fixed costs of a car and divide it amongst dozens of people, it's much cheaper than ownership. OK, without the actual numbers it's hard to debate the details here. Maintenance will obviously be higher, and depending on the competition and regulation, cost could vary dramatically. But we're getting off topic. Earlier, you said: > the rise of the self driving car is going to completely torpedo 90% of the advantages of living in a city. Saving money on car ownership is not 90% of the value of urban life for me, and never has been. > However, I think it's almost purely a result of demographic shifts not some new desire to live in cities. Young childless people have always wanted to live in the city, we just have more of them than we used to. I don't believe this either, and it's what I was getting at earlier. I don't foresee myself every living outside of walking distance from essentials, especially once I have children. I hear the same from my peers, but I guess time will tell.

learc83 15y ago

>Someone needs to pay for the fuel. Someone needs to pay for the insurance. Someone needs to pay for parking, the technical development, the maintenance, and the infrastructure. Of course they do. But the average car is only driven a few hours a day. If you take the total fixed costs of a car and divide it amongst dozens of people, it's much cheaper than ownership. I also expect insurance prices to drop dramatically for self driving cars, given that over 90% of accidents are caused by human error. Additionally I don't think parking will be a problem with all of the now empty driveways of former car owners. Just give a discount for zip car service to customers in exchange for using their driveways to park downtime cars. >But it was better than trying to hail a cab and wasting 10 bucks. And in the end, it felt good. Walking a little every day is good for you. >Many people want to be able to walk or ride a bicycle as part of their daily routine. Many people want to be in close physical proximity to other people. All of those are true and I think given demographic shifts--people marrying and having kids later, resulting in more single or childless 20-30 year olds--we will definitely see growth in urban centers. However, I think it's almost purely a result of demographic shifts not some new desire to live in cities. Young childless people have always wanted to live in the city, we just have more of them than we used to.

aboodman 15y ago
> Of course they do. But the average car is only driven a few hours a day. If you take the total fixed costs of a car and divide it amongst dozens of people, it's much cheaper than ownership. OK, without the actual numbers it's hard to debate the details here. Maintenance will obviously be higher, and depending on the competition and regulation, cost could vary dramatically. But we're getting off topic. Earlier, you said: > the rise of the self driving car is going to completely torpedo 90% of the advantages of living in a city. Saving money on car ownership is not 90% of the value of urban life for me, and never has been. > However, I think it's almost purely a result of demographic shifts not some new desire to live in cities. Young childless people have always wanted to live in the city, we just have more of them than we used to. I don't believe this either, and it's what I was getting at earlier. I don't foresee myself every living outside of walking distance from essentials, especially once I have children. I hear the same from my peers, but I guess time will tell.