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The New York Times has a story about what may be a more likely future of public transportation.
A small electric bus chugged along at a slow but steady seven miles per hour when a white van, entering the street from the side, cut in front of it. The bus slowed, as if its driver had hit the brakes, and got back up to speed after the van moved out of the way.
But this bus has no brake or accelerator pedal. It has no steering wheel, either. In fact, it doesn't have a driver — it operates using sensors and software, although for now, a person is stationed on board ready to hit a red "stop" button in an emergency.
At a time when self-driving cars are beginning to make progress — most notably with a trial program that the ride service Uber began in Pittsburgh this fall — the bus represents a different approach to technologically advanced transportation.
I say a more likely future because of the following:
A driverless car, after all, is still a car, carrying at best a few people. By transporting many passengers on what could be very flexible routes, driverless buses could help reduce the number of cars clogging city streets.
Few advantages accrue from driverless cars if the streets and highways are clogged with them. The passenger(s) can curse the vehicle up ahead instead of its idiot driver. My take: The idea has some promise, especially in places where people do not have long distances to travel.
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Monday November 07 2016, @09:29PM
That sounds right to me. Even if we assume that all cars in the future are self-driving EVs, the carrying capacity of the roads is not infinite. If we suppose that we have approached that limit, then we have to expand the road capacity or eliminate trips that need to be made. Expanding the road capacity is very expensive. Eliminating trips is a zoning change to create the mixed-use area you're talking about.
That doesn't have to be destructive. It can be done through attrition. Urban planners can identify residential lots in subdivisions that have optimal placement and mandate that the zoning of the lot change to commercial (to accommodate a grocery store or retail) upon sale. Before long you have an area in miniature that provides what many have in the city now, which is everything you need, want, or desire within 10 minutes' walk. Baby boomers would fight that tooth and nail because their idea of suburban life was cast in stone in the 50's, but Millenials and younger, who have demonstrated little interest in a car-centric life, would probably go for it.
Washington DC delenda est.