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I am really excited for the possible future of self-driving electric taxis. All the pieces kind of fit together: you can use an app to dispatch and gauge number
by mmanfrin 13y ago
I am really excited for the possible future of self-driving electric taxis. All the pieces kind of fit together: you can use an app to dispatch and gauge number of fleet vehicles to put out (Google just bought a huge stake in Uber), self-driving cabs can return themselves for a recharge when low on batter and another vehicle can replace it instantly, the amount of cars on the road can scale with demand fluidly. There'd be no need for a car ever in a metro area.
- mistercow 13y agoShhh, if the auto industry, public transit industry, and car rental industry hear you, they might band together and try to stop it from happening.
- tdyo 13y agoSomeone still has to build them. And buy them.
- toomuchtodo 13y agoLike airlines. Few own a private plane, but airlines front the capital and operations, just like mobility companies of tomorrow will be the bulk of self-driving car purchasers.
- mistercow 13y agoYes, but far, far fewer people. Most car hours are currently spent sitting in driveways and parking lots.
- sker 13y agoThey'll have to fight the insurance companies. Insurance companies will probably love to be collecting rent on every vehicle while having to cover 90% less accidents.
- nick007 13y agoActually I think this will kill insurance companies too. They will see their business fall inline with the cost of accidents.
- dman 13y agoSomeone will have to sell insurance to car manufacturers for the remaining 10 percent of accidents.
- objclxt 13y agoI don't think that's necessarily true - insurance companies make money out of insuring far safer modes of transport than driving (like air travel). The liability merely shifts from the driver to the software developer. Whoever is providing the self-driving cars will need to have large amounts of indemnity insurance to cover potential losses.
- shitlord 13y agoThe second part might be true, but human-driven cars are going to be on the road for a very long time. As long as they are here, accidents will happen, and insurance companies will find a way to charge you for it. Geico et al will never stop existing, so long as there is the possibility of human error.
- chaz 13y agoPeople will still want and demand car insurance. Stuff still happens, and I want my car and injuries paid for. So they'll still be around. It may be a smaller industry, but it won't kill them.
- seanmcdirmid 13y agoAlso, think of the impact in congested and developing countries: in Beijing, there is nowhere else to build roads, yet the number of cars keeps increasing. Going all self-driving in the entire city would increase road bandwidth substantially. Not to mention the problem of people flaunting traffic rules and etiquette and causing backups as a result. This is going to be much bigger for the rest of the world than in the roads-a-plenty USA.
- jrs99 13y agotaxis won't need drivers to go back, so you could probably take a taxi from manhattan to like the middle of connecticut, which would be awesome.
- seanmcdirmid 13y agoAlso, you could take a train and a self drive taxi would efficiently handle getting you to and from the train station. This is a huge enabler for public transit that can focus on more efficient high capacity routes.
- drewrv 13y agoThey will be a ton cheaper too. Lower fuel costs, maintenance costs, and labor costs. The three most expensive costs associated with operating a taxi will be lowered significantly.
- ekianjo 13y agoBy governments will probably still tax Taxi ownership just like they do now, and just like for the airline industry you'll end up with taxes doubling the price of your trip. I don't believe in a cheap future of transportation as long as government has a say in it...
- seanmcdirmid 13y agoAh, because like...roads are free, just like airports and air traffic control systems. Pesky governments building infrastructure. In a libercrazian future, the free market would make such trivialities free!
- ekianjo 13y agoYeah, like, because, airports need to see their taxes quadruple in 10 years, with no improvement whatsoever in their infrastructures ? Isn't that very obvious to you that they are just milking the cow and not just paying back for the operational costs ? Same for motorways.
- seanmcdirmid 13y agoIf you are American, your cost of flying and driving is already quite low compared to the rest of the world, what's being "milked?" Since you used motorways and might be from the UK, I don't know what your situation is. Transportation infrastructure is one of those monopolies that the government is the best choice to take care of.
- ekianjo 13y ago> Transportation infrastructure is one of those monopolies that the government is the best choice to take care of. There are many countries around the world where the government has no money to take care of the infrastructure and you need private ventures to step in.
- jrs99 13y agoThere would never be a need for a car in the suburbs. If i had an app that would just bring me a car and be ready at an exact time right in front of my house, bring me to a store and leave, and when twenty minutes before I'm done shopping I order another taxi to be ready for me outside the store, not need to go to the DMV or any auto shop, that would be a huge win for the suburbs.
- jay_kyburz 13y agoErr. here in Australia thats what a taxi is now.
- Sami_Lehtinen 13y agoWhen Taxi adoption rate is high, one minute should be enough. Available cars are everywhere.
- cylinder 13y agoBeing driverless doesn't mean this kind of thing is necessarily going to be economically viable. You need density to optimize taxi operation and keep it affordable. There would need to be a lot of taxis driving themselves around for them to be so readily available in this kind of setting, and for that you need widespread adoption.
- jrs99 13y agoI'm in New Jersey which is pretty dense and already has a lot of human-driven taxi companies. It definitely might not work in a sparsely populated suburb.
- hayksaakian 13y agoisn't the human factor the largest cost among transportation service? if 1/2 of your fare went to the driver normally, now it can go to having more cars available. All I'm saying is the economics might work
- DannoHung 13y agoAlmost every non-rural area is going to be able to support the density required. I mean, drive through any suburb and count the number of unoccupied cars. Honestly, the biggest issue (assuming the technology is flawless) is going to be keeping them clean and maintained because of the very high usage rates.
- vincie 13y agoGo all the way! Tune the traffic signals preferentially for these electric taxis. Configure them to pick up multiple fares going the same direction. To use train tracks for long distance.