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How low would a self driving 2 seater smart car have to drop in cost before you would view it as an acceptable replacement to public transportation in cities wi

by nugget 11y ago

How low would a self driving 2 seater smart car have to drop in cost before you would view it as an acceptable replacement to public transportation in cities without strong existing subway routes? I think the costs will be surprisingly low, and the infrastructure (roads) already exists from door to door. No matter what, self driving cars will siphon off some percentage of riders from public transport options, increasing the need for ever more expensive subsidies.

kuschku 11y ago
Why do roads exist from door to door? Especially in european cities with a historic core, this is just not the case - even in my city, it's common knowledge to NEVER take a car into the city, as the roads are just always fully congested. Public Transport is the only long term solution. Especially when one takes the cost for building roads into account. And if one considers that with public transport 100% of the fare goes back into the infrastructure, while with self-driving cars operated by for-profit businesses most of your fare ends up in the pockets of a rich investor overseas. Which is just not desireable.
- goldfeld 11y ago
  You might be wrong even for a planned city: individual cars are convenient, fast and safer than public transport (picture women and minorities who get harassed--human drivers are going away fast and people's bigotry are not). Experts reckon self-driving traffic will reduce cars on the road by an order of magnitude, so that we'll only need 5% of current cars to provide pinpoint, individual and mostly immediate service to everyone. 30% of all traffic is caused by parking alone. It really seems like small electric two-seater cars (whatever form they take) are the future. That most cities are already prepared in terms of roads is icing on the cake. That said, if it happens, these self-driving cars should BECOME public transport, a common good, of course. Not some corporation's private automaton army of money-printing cars, even though Uber really is helping speed up the whole transition. I think Europe and perhaps Latin America will have better luck escaping Uber's monopoly claws and bringing service into the commons.

by nugget 11y ago

kuschku 11y ago

Why do roads exist from door to door? Especially in european cities with a historic core, this is just not the case - even in my city, it's common knowledge to NEVER take a car into the city, as the roads are just always fully congested. Public Transport is the only long term solution. Especially when one takes the cost for building roads into account. And if one considers that with public transport 100% of the fare goes back into the infrastructure, while with self-driving cars operated by for-profit businesses most of your fare ends up in the pockets of a rich investor overseas. Which is just not desireable.

goldfeld 11y ago
You might be wrong even for a planned city: individual cars are convenient, fast and safer than public transport (picture women and minorities who get harassed--human drivers are going away fast and people's bigotry are not). Experts reckon self-driving traffic will reduce cars on the road by an order of magnitude, so that we'll only need 5% of current cars to provide pinpoint, individual and mostly immediate service to everyone. 30% of all traffic is caused by parking alone. It really seems like small electric two-seater cars (whatever form they take) are the future. That most cities are already prepared in terms of roads is icing on the cake. That said, if it happens, these self-driving cars should BECOME public transport, a common good, of course. Not some corporation's private automaton army of money-printing cars, even though Uber really is helping speed up the whole transition. I think Europe and perhaps Latin America will have better luck escaping Uber's monopoly claws and bringing service into the commons.