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Re:When’s a pedestrian not a pedestrian? When it’s a decal by arethuza on Monday July 24, 2017 @10:05AM (#14838552)
For the record I rather like owning my own car - I can see why a lot of people (particularly in towns/cities) could live without having their own vehicle but not everyone lives in the centre of a city.
Re:When’s a pedestrian not a pedestrian? When it’s a decal by ghaff on Monday July 24, 2017 @11:07AM (#14839031)
A lot of the "no one will own cars" folks need to get out of their bubble more. The typical car is a sort of moving storage locker and has often been customized for preferences and needs like carrying various types of sports gear. (Also car seats for kids.) Plus, a lot of people just like having a car that they're comfortable in.
Re:When’s a pedestrian not a pedestrian? When it’s a decal by kaybe on Monday July 24, 2017 @11:32AM (#14839287)
I have talked to many people about private cars (out measuring NO2 pollution in cities) and it seems that this is the main argument why they won't give up their car. Kids is another huge argument. Handling kid's gear with rentals or public transport sucks a lot.

My current thinking goes into the direction of small private electrical golf carts for cities since those fulfill the most important requirements given to me by those who say they'd never want to give up their car. One could even make them foldable and stack them upright when parked. Slow speeds mean that not much of a safety buffer is needed in the material.

Being able to make longer trips in the same vehicle is surprisingly low on the list. It is given mainly by people with kids who want to load the vehicle in front of their house and not have to pay for several vehicles (thus having a golf cart and a normal car does not sound appealing).

Re:When’s a pedestrian not a pedestrian? When it’s a decal by ghaff on Monday July 24, 2017 @11:43AM (#14839397)
There have been various proposals for city-optimized vehicles such as http://cp.media.mit.edu/citycar/.

Maybe someday. The problem is that there isn't really a sharp divide between dense urban core and everything else. I think about the largest city nearest to me and traffic can get pretty high speed even nearby fairly dense areas. Traffic is often jammed up but when it isn't it doesn't just move at sedate speeds.

Re:When’s a pedestrian not a pedestrian? When it’s a decal by nradov on Monday July 24, 2017 @05:20PM (#14842803)
Even inside cities, vehicles frequently need to drive at speeds up to 70kph. So while small electric golf carts (neighborhood electric vehicles) will continue to be used as niche vehicles in limited areas they're useless to most drivers.
Re:When’s a pedestrian not a pedestrian? When it’s a decal by kaybe on Monday July 24, 2017 @07:18PM (#14843633)
This may depend on region. I'm in Europe, where the city speed limit is at 50 km/h and frequently reduced to 30km/h and where you can get literally stuck between buildings in a few places with a larger car.