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I don't understand the sarcasm. Driverless trains for mass transit are in operation in lots of places around the world and have been for some time (eg the Dock
by seanhunter 9mo ago
I don't understand the sarcasm. Driverless trains for mass transit are in operation in lots of places around the world and have been for some time (eg the Docklands light railway in London) https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/dlr/ https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/dlr/
Driverless personal transportation is the unsolved problem.
- badc0ffee 9mo agoWeirdly, DLR trains still have an attendant onboard. A better example of a fully centrally operated train would be something like the SkyTrain lines in Vancouver.
- seanhunter 9mo agoThe attendant is a legacy of a union settlement as I understand it. It's not actually required for the ooperation of the system.
- mikepurvis 9mo agoThe book The Box discusses similar compromises that were made with the longshoremen unions during the transition from conventional hull-packing to containers. There's a certain fairness to it at least for a time, but the technology existing to make the role truly unnecessary does prime things for the next round of discussions when it can be fully eliminated or moved to an off-board overseer remotely monitoring multiple trains at once.
- tim333 9mo agoNot all DLR trains. They do things like keep an eye on people and check tickets - there aren't any ticket barriers.
- estimator7292 9mo agoThe point is that we don't have mass transit in most places in the US. Trains and light rail are indisputably better for everyone but we're betting the entire country on yet more cars.