It seems to me if you wanted to deliver on "economic benefits", save lives, reduce emissions, etc there is an obvious already existing option: subways/LRT. For inter-city travel build high speed rail. I just don't see driverless cars as the panacea that other people do, even if it worked— which it doesn't seem to.
Re:There is no hard takeoff
by isodnhionio on Friday August 11, 2023 @11:02AM
(#37089491)
Nothing has ever been a panacea, and people very rarely claim things will be. Cars will be around for a long time. Building public transportation is slow, particularly given the political dysfunction where I live. It's possibly not worth it in rural areas. People often drive even in parts of the world with good public transportation. Replacing human drivers with (working) computers would be a major improvement in safety, efficiency, and functionality.
Yet Tesla's system is the most famous and most widely-deployed and basically doesn't work at all. They have made themselves the face of the technology, and that face is uuuuugly. When people think of self-driving cars, they don't think of Cruze or Waymo. They think of a techbro giggling at his Tesla making fart sounds while it barrels into someone's kitchen.
Tesla's marketing is correct in that self-driving cars will have huge economic benefits and save lives. Their grift is harming the reputation of even legitimate companies. The best way I know to speed up self-driving car development is to shut Tesla down.