I hope we get something like this. I'd love to be chauffeured around everywhere I need to go. It would be bad-ass. We'd start to see automobiles become more like mini-RV's since we wouldn't need all the gizmos and what not and perhaps the safety requirements wouldn't be as strict.

by Vik on Aug 21, 2008 4:33 pm  

I was just thinking about, and we'd probably have less traffic congestion too. With reaction times being drastically shorter for autonomous vehicle over manually driven ones, the amount of road space needed for each vehicle drastically goes down. It may be that an autonomous car would require half as much space on city streets and a fifth as much on freeways as manually driven cars. This means that if most vehicles are replaced with autonomouse vehicles, we'd find ourselves (at least temporarily) with a lot more road capacity than needed. Although that may then become short lived unless we use market pricing on road usage (it boils down to basic economics at that point). However, there should still be some improvement in traffic congestion overall if roads are not priced.

Another thing that could be automated more would be parking. Although the only advantage there is that automated parking takes up less space than a regular parking garage.

by Mario on Aug 21, 2008 4:58 pm  

very true about increasing our capacity since efficiency would soar! imagine 4 lanes of cars traveling on Interstate highways at speeds approaching 200 mph ... and each only 1 foot apart! commutes would be drastically shortened in time (allowing people to live even further from their jobs). and parking problems would be a thing of the past ... have your car take you to work and then program ... let it drive home to sit in your own driveway during the day ... and then have it come back to your office to pick you up in the evening! you need to pick up something at the hardward store on the way home ... and there's no parking? no problem. just have the car drop you off in front and ... let it circle while you're in the store doing your shopping ... and then have it pull right up to the front of the store so that the clerk can help you get your heavy purchase in your trunk ...

yeah, there might be more zip cars/driver-less taxis ... but there're still be lots more private cars around since zip cars/ driverless taxis can only do some of the things that cars can do. for example, cars often serve to define their owners ... e.g. the 5' 2" guy who buys a gigantic pickup truck on steroids sitting 10 feet off the ground isn't going to get the same thing out of a generic zip car that he gets out of that truck ... ;)

by Lance on Aug 21, 2008 5:25 pm  

Since congestion is often caused by the interaction of inattention and insecurity causing unexpected accelerations and decelerations, these kinds of things could do wonders in keeping traffic flowing and people following traffic laws.

But I wonder if people will get tired of following the speed limit, and use the manual override to speed through highways or red lights. If that's not an option, then perhaps they could just hack the car to go five miles over the speed limit at most times, and create a mess anyway. A friend hacked his Prius, following a DIY guide, so now he can pretty much cruise through downtown New Haven at 30mph without turning on the engine. Admittedly, though with effective computers, speed limits may be unnecessary.

by The King of Spain on Aug 21, 2008 5:30 pm  

King ... What red lights? What manual override? You might need an option to go into "manual mode" during a transition period where not all roads have this capability, but while on those roads there won't be an option to opt out. There can't be since the basis of such an efficient system is a "central" command coordinating all the actions of the individual actors (i.e., driverless cars) in traffic. Under these circumstances, why do you need a red light? Yeah you might still need walk signals though. Ummm ... and what happens to bicyclists?

by Lance on Aug 21, 2008 5:41 pm  

Lance, this technology you imagine would still be very expensive to implement, and intermediate systems would come into play earlier. DARPA's project specifically avoided centralized control. The cars were independently automated to go over extremely difficult terrain.

However, the system you discussed is much like the PATH system tested in California in the 90s. It would be quite expensive to implement without a pre-existing technology of automated vehicles like the ones DARPA and some car companies are developing. Working on that first will have more effects on safety and speed with limited public investment.

Additionally, the highway would have to be sealed carefully to to prevent catastrophic accidents that could devastate a pack of cars going 200 mph close together, such as rockfall or a loose animal (if you've ever driven long distance at night in rural areas this is destined to happen). Grade-separation is such a big deal because it cuts safety risks as much as interference, so you can go faster in lighter vehicles.

On the other hand the issue of image is little stupid. Perhaps people need to get over themselves. It could be the greatest thing to ever happen to urbanism.

by THe King of Spain on Aug 21, 2008 7:36 pm  

"On the other hand the issue of image is little stupid. Perhaps people need to get over themselves."

hmmm ... true ... but now what DOES "The King of Spain" mean??? ... nothing to do with "image", huh? ;)

by Lance on Aug 21, 2008 11:27 pm