Anyone else remember the old JC Penny stores that put your bill and
payment in a thing that was loaded into a vacuum/pressure tube and
wisked off to the cashier, then your receipt returned by pressure? I
think that would be a great way to replace cars. just jump in a vacuum
cartridge and be whisked along by air pressure.
Oh! Wait! compressed air is expensive...maglev... naa we need star trek
transporters.
clay via Mercedes <mailto:mercedes@okiebenz.com>
November 13, 2016 at 10:33 PM
This is utopian and will result in massive corruption and absconding
with taxes by the municipalities. The roads in Seattle are crap. We
have very mild winters, so it is not from ice heave, just poor
planning and outlay of revenues for infrastructure. The “leadership”
has many “social” plans for money over actually keeping the roads
functional. The state does the same theft of funds and over extension
of socialist agenda items. Right now the Legislature is in contempt of
the state supreme court because they are not funding public education
as required by our constitution. With road fees, there is no way it
gets put into asphalt or repairs.
Autonomous cars are not going to be useful for all users. The lowest
common denominator will be what ends up on the road. It will be a
Corolla not a Camry. The people who do not mind a buzzy, rattling ride
will be fine. Taxis usually run a more upscale ride. Not that a old
cop car is upscale, just more comfortable. Prius seems to be the go to
for Uber, or town car/suburbans. If the self drive cars were an E
class, Tesla, or at least a mid level car, there would be more expense
than was pointed out in the article.
There is also an issue with getting your ride when you want and need
in my mind. NYC people are used to taxi timelines. Normal people are
not really interested in waiting around for some schlub to show up to
get them to work, shopping, out for a party. If the car will arrive
within five minutes, there may be a better market. Anybody with kids
will want great access to rides, to get kids to soccer, play dates,
therapy. Would a person really trust a robot to get their pride and
joy safely from spot A to B? I do not trust my W220, and I drive it
myself. Were it self driving, I would choose to walk, because I am
sure that car would get confused and kill me. The Teslas are killing
people. Pilots depend on the computers to fly, and sometimes that does
not work out. In a car, maybe you kill four, instead of 100.
I doubt the build out of roads that are tech capable and compatible
with the needs of self driving cars can be done within the next two
decades. Our local light rail just got voter approval to build out a
few short stubs which will take 15-20 years to link to two other
municipalities within 20 miles. These are single routes to the east
and north. It will require massive investment in parking and links to
other ground transport that have not been thought through. The Big Dig
in Boston is much less complex than the engineering and costs
autonomous cars will require to safely transport even a fraction of
the populace. The population density to support that system would rule
out all but the largest urban areas and leave suburbs and outlying
areas underserved.
clay
2002 s430 - Victor, a Stately & well tailored chap
1974 450sl - Frosch - Two tone green
1986 SDL - Polei
retired models-
1976 300D - Blei Vanst - it looks silvery
1972 220D - Gump - She was green, simple and ran
1995 E300D - Gave her life to save me against a Dame in a SUV
POS 1987 SDL - Beware Nigerian Scammers
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Floyd Thursby via Mercedes <mailto:mercedes@okiebenz.com>
November 13, 2016 at 6:18 PM
I have been having a low-key conversation with a coupla friends about
this topic, I would be interested to hear y'all's thoughts on it,
especially from the perspective of new roads requirements and the more
effective use of existing transpo infrastructure.
MB content in a linked article
http://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2016/11/10/reset-the-car-conversation-with-autonomous-cars
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