I see the more realistic probability of the car picking up and then dropping off a passenger, and then picking up another. I don’t think customers would be happy if the car they were riding made their trip longer in order to force them to share the car.
There will be taxis that work pretty much like they do today. But there will also be mini buses that carry secret passengers and are cheaper. It’s not an either/or situation.
But you can do car sharing with any kind of car. In Germany there are cities that run a rent service for their citizens who only need a car occasionally.
Obviously this only works in the context of a robust public transport infrastructure and in cities built for humans rather than cars, so that the need for a car becomes a rare occurrence.
American cities don’t generally fit that description and until they do the type of car they use won’t change a thing, because it’s not addressing the core problem.
That’s Car Sharing, not autonomous vehicles, no? Car Sharing is a good thing, definitely, but we really need to get rid of cars. Not completely, but to a point where it’s not the default.
With autonomous cars, you don’t need a driver to bring it to the next person who needs it. That’s a big limitation of current car sharing, it prevents a lot of possible sharing from happening as cars spend 95% of their lifetime parked. Indeed, we need less and smaller cars, and I think autonomous car would help with that by increasing sharing and usage time.
I firmly believe the solution is autonomous shuttles, not cars. Imagine having bus routes that can dynamically change and adapt to demand. Say we replace every bus with 2 smaller shuttles: during normal service the route could have the same capacity, but if there is an extraordinary event (sports event for example) you could divert them from the low-demand areas to the extraordinary-demand zone.
During lower demand times, you can also have more routes at no extra cost. If you’re clever and make an app to call the shuttle (think Uber but through pre-established routes) the demand can be determined in real time to ensure you don’t have empty shuttles.
And because they’re bigger than passenger cars you’re still increasing the ratio of passengers per vehicle, unlike robotaxis which merely replace private cars, with mostly 1- or 2-passenger trips.
No they wouldn’t. Once most cars are robotaxis, there will be drastically less space needed for car parks which will free up huge amounts of space. That can be used for bike lanes, so cycling becomes safer and more convenient. And I don’t expect most rides to be single occupancy. People will opt for shared rides if they are substantially cheaper, which would cut the number of vehicles on the road. Autonomous cars are actually the best chance we have right now to escape the car centric hellscapes of our current cities.
And I don’t expect most rides to be single occupancy. People will opt for shared rides if they are substantially cheaper,
Bus. That’s called a bus. It can also fit more than five people and doesn’t use as much energy to transport each person. You just reinvented a shittier bus
Wrong. I invented a better bus. Well, i didn’t, none of this is new. A bus that goes straight to your destination with few or no stops. A bus that always tells you exactly when it’s going to arrive. A bus that can go to a lot of places a large bus can’t. And of course one that’s a lot quiet and cleaner. What exactly is your problem with that concept?
Autonomous cars would complete the hellish dependency on cars in many cities.
Just like regular taxi, they reduce the need for parking spots. Personal car taking valuable real estate all day long are a big problem.
They offer the chance to push the average number of occupants per vehicle below one.
They also offer the chance to push it above one. Ride-sharing will be a lot more attractive with autonomous cars.
Why?
I see the more realistic probability of the car picking up and then dropping off a passenger, and then picking up another. I don’t think customers would be happy if the car they were riding made their trip longer in order to force them to share the car.
You just need price incentive, make it cheaper if it is shared, it’s economically sound.
There will be taxis that work pretty much like they do today. But there will also be mini buses that carry secret passengers and are cheaper. It’s not an either/or situation.
It could reduce the need for individual cars by increasing car sharing.
But you can do car sharing with any kind of car. In Germany there are cities that run a rent service for their citizens who only need a car occasionally.
Obviously this only works in the context of a robust public transport infrastructure and in cities built for humans rather than cars, so that the need for a car becomes a rare occurrence.
American cities don’t generally fit that description and until they do the type of car they use won’t change a thing, because it’s not addressing the core problem.
That’s Car Sharing, not autonomous vehicles, no? Car Sharing is a good thing, definitely, but we really need to get rid of cars. Not completely, but to a point where it’s not the default.
With autonomous cars, you don’t need a driver to bring it to the next person who needs it. That’s a big limitation of current car sharing, it prevents a lot of possible sharing from happening as cars spend 95% of their lifetime parked. Indeed, we need less and smaller cars, and I think autonomous car would help with that by increasing sharing and usage time.
But how would I flex my wealth to the peasants then? /s
Easy, buy a $15,000 dollar bike.
I firmly believe the solution is autonomous shuttles, not cars. Imagine having bus routes that can dynamically change and adapt to demand. Say we replace every bus with 2 smaller shuttles: during normal service the route could have the same capacity, but if there is an extraordinary event (sports event for example) you could divert them from the low-demand areas to the extraordinary-demand zone.
During lower demand times, you can also have more routes at no extra cost. If you’re clever and make an app to call the shuttle (think Uber but through pre-established routes) the demand can be determined in real time to ensure you don’t have empty shuttles.
And because they’re bigger than passenger cars you’re still increasing the ratio of passengers per vehicle, unlike robotaxis which merely replace private cars, with mostly 1- or 2-passenger trips.
No they wouldn’t. Once most cars are robotaxis, there will be drastically less space needed for car parks which will free up huge amounts of space. That can be used for bike lanes, so cycling becomes safer and more convenient. And I don’t expect most rides to be single occupancy. People will opt for shared rides if they are substantially cheaper, which would cut the number of vehicles on the road. Autonomous cars are actually the best chance we have right now to escape the car centric hellscapes of our current cities.
Bus. That’s called a bus. It can also fit more than five people and doesn’t use as much energy to transport each person. You just reinvented a shittier bus
Wrong. I invented a better bus. Well, i didn’t, none of this is new. A bus that goes straight to your destination with few or no stops. A bus that always tells you exactly when it’s going to arrive. A bus that can go to a lot of places a large bus can’t. And of course one that’s a lot quiet and cleaner. What exactly is your problem with that concept?