Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

Uber and Lyft Shared Principle: No Personal Autonomous Cars in Dense Urban Areas

posted by martyb on Sunday February 04 2018, @01:24AM   Printer-friendly
from the whose-car-is-it? dept.

An Anonymous Coward writes:

https://gizmodo.com/uber-and-lyft-have-a-hot-new-idea-for-screwing-over-cit-1822661060

The arrival of autonomous vehicles is an inevitability, so it makes sense that before mass adoption hits, companies like Lyft and Uber would want to band together to determine what our self-driving future will look like. Sounds pretty harmless, right?

Well, not so fast, because a new pledge by 15 big-name transportation companies seems designed to screw over city-dwellers who want to ride in their own self-driving cars. Item #10 of the Shared Mobility Principles for Livable Cities, co-signed yesterday by Uber, Lyft, Zipcar, and Didi Chuxing (China's largest ride-sharing service), reads as follows:

10. WE SUPPORT THAT AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES (AVS) IN DENSE URBAN AREAS SHOULD BE OPERATED ONLY IN SHARED FLEETS.

Due to the transformational potential of autonomous vehicle technology, it is critical that all AVs are part of shared fleets, well-regulated, and zero emission. Shared fleets can provide more affordable access to all, maximize public safety and emissions benefits, ensure that maintenance and software upgrades are managed by professionals, and actualize the promise of reductions in vehicles, parking, and congestion, in line with broader policy trends to reduce the use of personal cars in dense urban areas.

Translation: These companies want to make it illegal for individuals to use privately owned self-driving cars in big cities, effectively giving the signatories control of our autonomous streets.

See the Shared Mobility Principles for Livable Cities site for details on their principles, which are enumerated here:

  1. We plan our cities and their mobility together.
  2. We prioritize people over vehicles.
  3. We support the shared and efficient use of vehicles, lanes, curbs, and land.
  4. We engage with stakeholders.
  5. We promote equity.
  6. We lead the transition towards a zero-emission future and renewable energy.
  7. We support fair user fees across all modes.
  8. We aim for public benefits via open data.
  9. We work towards integration and seamless connectivity.
  10. We support that autonomous vehicles (AVs) in dense urban areas should be operated only in shared fleets.

Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Uber and Lyft Shared Principle: No Personal Autonomous Cars in Dense Urban Areas | Log In/Create an Account | Top | 47 comments | Search Discussion
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.

  • (Score: 1) by Ethanol-fueled on Sunday February 04 2018, @06:56PM

    by Ethanol-fueled (2792) on Sunday February 04 2018, @06:56PM (#632987) Homepage

    I like public transit. Plenty of entertaining crackheads and low-lifes to shoot the shit with. Unfortunately, the way this city is laid out, if you want to work in the tech industry here then taking public transit is going to add an extra 2-3 hours to your daily commute compared to car. One late bus or trolley can make you late to work, and some places aren't very tolerant of that. Public transit makes sense in New York City and DC, not so much in San Diego.

    Here in San Diego public transit is for Mexicans and drunks going home from baseball games.