I am looking forward to self driving cars, and keep hoping they will get here before my parents lose their ability to safely drive themselves.
Back in the mid 70's there was a 'personal rapid transport' or PRT system proposed which was individual 'cars' on a rail system that were smart enough to stop at a station. The idea was that the rail line had switches where a PRT unit (4 or 8 passenger) could go into a station when called with an elevator like button. You would get in, and then it would head out on the track and not stop again until your destination station.
The idea was that it eliminated the two biggest issues with 'public transportation' which were pickup and drop off schedules that forced waits when you transferred from one line to another, and the fact that the train/bus would make all stops forcing it to be slower than a point to point bus/train.
I believe you could implement that system safely on a dedicated 'self driving car' road. And such roads would be less expensive to build than a rail infrastructure.
I graduated from wvu and apart from “#1 party school” tag, its claim to fame was/is the PRT. fun to ride, not fun when your cabin gets stuck in middle of the track with nobody to call.
Last time we checked, there's still a plaque in the office warning about "Rotten Ralph" (his nickname). Many family stories. My sis and bro would ride unattended, monitored from the control room. They loved helping reboot the system by manually entering the hexidecimal codes.
I remain disappointed we don't have PRTs every where.
I remember reading a sci fi novel with that idea too. The scene had a guy packing up his luggage in a self-driving car, watching the car get in line with a long-distance "train" of self-driving cars, and then falling asleep so he can make it to the next city.
My daughter is on the autism spectrum. I think she is capable of driving herself, but at least right now, she shows no interest in it. Instead, I'm teaching her how to get around herself on a bicycle. And while I am still intent on helping her develop self-reliance, the future she will be working as an adult will likely involve self-driving cars.
I think it is very likely that the cost of self-driving cars will be higher. Middle class is already getting squeezed, and if having on-demand transportation is more affordable, it is more accessible for people. When self-driving cars have lower insurance premiums, then manually-driven cars would be left in the domain of the hobbyists and the wealthy -- driving it for fun, rather than because you need to make a living.
At the same time, I can see bicycles and electric bicycles becoming even more popular.
There was a kickstarter campaign a couple years ago documenting how roads were originally made for bikes, with the first paved roads being lobbied by bicycle groups rather than auto groups. We also have some interesting things: (1) in the early days of the auto industry, the auto industry pushed forward legislation for traffic safety, shifting the idea is that if a pedestrian is on the road, it is the pedestrian's fault, and that "roads are made for cars" (2) buying out trolly companies so people would buy more cars and (3) this idea of "roads are made for cars" has become so ingrained in our mindset that it influenced city and urban design for almost a hundred years.
I'm glad to see this is starting to swing back the other way.
Arguably you can get most of those benefits now by chartering Uber, Lyft, Waymo, etc. to run private bus lines. They could run bigger and smaller vehicles as needed and let you schedule your pickups and dropoffs from their apps.
Plenty of countries around the world let people start up their own bus lines to meet demand.
Completely agree! That's what I think the future of self-driving cars will be -- not so much "automatic Uber" but instead little busses that can automatically optimize their routes to get people where they need to go. This would mitigate a key issue that is often raised in regard to ridesharing --
that it has the potential to clog streets.
Speaking of PRT in the 70s, for quite some time the Morgantown PRT in West Virginia was the only functioning example of one. (I believe nowadays there are a couple others):
A highly used system would be able to do it all, cars to take you to a bus, to take you to a train, bus at the other end, and then more cars, all scheduled JIT.
Throw in a standardised luggage system and lockable storage boxes at stations etc, to keep all the stuff you have around in your car, and you're getting somewhere.
Charge someone who wants to travel alone by car 10x as much as those who share and move between modes of transport
Then they charge you for all luggage like the air planes. While plastering you with targeted ads. I dont know what the future is going to look like more...idiocracy or black mirror.
Right now you can get in your car turn off your phone and radio and go where you want in peace. I bet they build a tier systems with autonomous cars. Pay this much it will go this fast. Pay more it will go faster. There will be like 3 major companies and like the internet providers you will have to pick the lesser of all evil.
Do I think they are cool, yes. Do I like the technology, yes. Do I like where the businesses will go with this technology, no.
Super easy to move between modes of transport if you don't have kids.
Moving the car seat alone makes car sharing a huge pain. And it's true now more than ever since now there's a social/safety expectation to have children in a full seat or booster seat until they're at least 10-12 years old.
Of course, if you have children, you're not using the car alone.
Many states do not require a carseat in a taxi. California is not currently one of them, but I can see this changing when more vehicles on the road are automated.
Back in the mid 70's there was a 'personal rapid transport' or PRT system proposed which was individual 'cars' on a rail system that were smart enough to stop at a station. The idea was that the rail line had switches where a PRT unit (4 or 8 passenger) could go into a station when called with an elevator like button. You would get in, and then it would head out on the track and not stop again until your destination station.
The idea was that it eliminated the two biggest issues with 'public transportation' which were pickup and drop off schedules that forced waits when you transferred from one line to another, and the fact that the train/bus would make all stops forcing it to be slower than a point to point bus/train.
I believe you could implement that system safely on a dedicated 'self driving car' road. And such roads would be less expensive to build than a rail infrastructure.