Re:Why autonomous trucking is harder than autonomous rideshare
by cityofdelusion on Sunday January 14, 2024 @09:10PM
(#38996650)
Not that simple, at least in the U.S. Rail has far stricter requirements on turn radius and grade. As an example the highways around here have 6%+ grade segments (after tunneling!) and rail is rarely over 1%. I haven’t even mentioned the incorrect subgrade and the massive safety envelope (approx 20x20 feet) which is about 2 highway lanes wide and far too tall for the thousands of highway overpasses.
Rail truly is a unique infrastructure concern and needs to be designed and laid on its own.
No one (generally) bats an eye when voting at the city level for a $100mm road package.
But trains?
Freight should move mostly by train. We could build rail lines where there are already highways, just swap a vehicle lain for a train rail, all that 18 wheeler traffic can be reduced significantly.
Safer highways. Less congestion.