The new transit challenge: self-driving cars.
PRT, as we love to say here, isn't going to work because, well, people have cars. And GM is getting ready to put the final nail in the coffin. In 2008, GM claims it will launch a vehicle with a self-driving system. The system will be part of the 2008 Opel Vectra and, according to sources, will be able to pilot itself at up 60 mph, in heavy traffic.
This is what we knew was coming for a long time. Once cars have the ability to pilot themselves, transit is going to have to re-invent itself, as things like Amtrak NE corridor, which can sell itself on giving people "time to work/play/etc" on the train, may no longer be able to make the argument that you can't do that in your car. And, of course, PRT becomes meaningless, because once you can send your car to go park itself..and pick you up...why would you care about a personal pod-based transit system?
(And yes, I realize this is old news, but some of us have just gotten around to catching up with our blog reading...)
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amg | 4:56 PM |
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Don't forget that the other half of the transit equation is as the peopled part of the country becomes more urbanized and we care about keeping the rest of the space less urbanized, one of the benefits of transit will be about keeping communities from being overrun with vehicles (and traffic)- whether or not they are manually piloted.
Chris,
Absolutely. I was referring more to the long-distance train and bus travel. Inner-city transit is a whole different ballgame, and I wouldn't really expect these type of systems to change that much at all.
-A
Oh no. no, that's not it at all...
This innovation makes it easier to commute longer distances, with less stress. It must be considered as a part of the urban transportation system.
Technically trivial; this is glorified cruise control.
My problem with it: It allows Americans to think that their car is their castle. It represents a determined effort by GM _NOT_ to systemically re-envision transportation--they're just myopically tweaking cars again.
Well, of course. It's not in GM's interest to systematically re-envision transportation. They're in the business of selling automobiles. They have a vested interest in selling automobiles. If I were GM, I'd want to keep selling automobiles.
We can't look to the auto manufacturers to encourage transit use in the city. That's like putting the tobacco companies in charge of deciding where smoking is allowed. It doesn't make sense.
The drive to encourage transit use is going to have to come from the cities, not from the auto industry.
well, in point of fact, I'm being funded by Toyota and Nissan to study new ways to use cars (carsharing: innovativemobility.org) --> so car companies are engaged in some small amount of 'risk management'.
