Re:Ford CEO says the company 'overestimated' self-driving cars
by jacques_chester on Thursday April 11, 2019 @11:06PM
(#19641589)
> There are more things to solve than just "the least amount of pollution and space."
The argument I was responding to was that self-driving cars would be sufficiently more efficient users of space that it would obviate the need for public transport. This was demonstrably false.
> But now you're punishing passengers that start a shift at noon.
Sure, but (a) that's a financial question, not a capacity question and (b) rush hour is when both finance and capacity collide.
Public transport is a more efficient option per passenger-kilometre and per square metre of road or cubic metre of tunnel than self-driving cars. It is always going to be. Self-driving cars will have other virtues and will reshape transportation, but ascribing magical powers to them does nobody any good, especially if it leads to defunding of subways and buses.
The argument I was responding to was that self-driving cars would be sufficiently more efficient users of space that it would obviate the need for public transport. This was demonstrably false.
> But now you're punishing passengers that start a shift at noon.
Sure, but (a) that's a financial question, not a capacity question and (b) rush hour is when both finance and capacity collide.
Public transport is a more efficient option per passenger-kilometre and per square metre of road or cubic metre of tunnel than self-driving cars. It is always going to be. Self-driving cars will have other virtues and will reshape transportation, but ascribing magical powers to them does nobody any good, especially if it leads to defunding of subways and buses.