Nick wrote > I'm skim-read that fairly one-sided article, and I'm not sure how taking > a taxi to work and another home again produces any less congestion that > me driving each way. Don't get me wrong here: I don't want to drive to > work. I like walking. But circumstances change.
The only way it could reduce emissions and congestion (assuming we still all want to do as many, if not more, journeys is for the driverless vehicles to always get a return load. If not they would end up being parked at the end of their one way journey and that could result in vehicles not being where they are required for much of the time. Don't worry though, the infrastructure costs are massive and we're not going to be in a financial position to afford that for more than another generation it seems. The vehicle side of things is close to complete though. We already have adaptive cruise control (already been on Jags for years), collision avoidance and automated cars (more recent developments) but the stringency that these systems would be subject to, to achieve certification and insurance clearance to be put into the mass market is daunting. Roger
