Would you buy an electric or hybrid Z?

[takemorepills]

We don't need government employees to do anything other than approve the projects. The heavily lifting can be subcontracted to the private sector.

And the whole point of the system is to not need people for anything anymore, other than to maintain the system and add functionalities. Why do I need someone to personally input a construction zone? When a construction project is approved, a database can be updated (computers can scan the paperwork if you really don't want any people involved) and voila, cars pull the info and on the day the project starts will adjust accordingly.

You don't even need a database lol, just a camera mounted at the location can convey the info if needed.

This doesn't mean I want driving to go away, seeing as I'm on this forum. But a slow government can only slow things, not stop them especially when big tech can shower money to help get things going.

Sure, ok.

 

[White_turbo]

But a slow government can only slow things, not stop them especially when big tech can shower money to help get things going.

To think the big tech company will just shell out money to get going is a bit of a fantasy. They aren't going to really do anything without getting a substantial return which would require going through multiple channels in the government to make it happen. This process alone is going to be the bottleneck even though the tech may already exist.

I think a complete driverless experience is at least 30-50 years away, so probably not in your lifetime assuming you are not in your teens. ?

 

[LeatherWings]

I would prefer some more effort put into making them more interesting.

 

[takemorepills]

Nice door stop.

 

[Haste]

This for me is the probably the biggest thing. I hate driving an auto as I find them extremely boring.



Not exactly high performance but the Honda CR-Z was marketed as a sporty hybrid and came with a 6 speed manual.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honda_CR-Z

Ford did make a manual EV Mustang for SEMA back in 2019.

https://www.theverge.com/2019/11/5/...anual-prototype-stick-shift-lithium-sema-2019

Yeah, I remember the hybrid CR-Z and there are a few other hybrids that offered a manual. 130hp doesn't exactly cut it for me though when thinking performance no matter how they market it ?

I don't recall ever seeing that Mustang though. That's actually pretty cool.

 

[trackratZ]

"Driverless is inevitable" seriously? What timeline you thinking?

I've worked in DOT for over 14 years. And I've worked with "connected vehicle" tech for nearly a decade. We are so far from truly "driverless" vehicles I am sure we're way more than 30 years out.
To be able to sell vehicles with no steering wheel and pedals that can drive anywhere, we would need to grow our transportation budgets exponentially. As it is now, we can barely maintain our current, crappy roads. To go truly driverless, we need consistent road conditions (i.e. perfect) everywhere, all the time. How to communicate construction detours or lane swaps to robot vehicles? How does police officers take control of traffic? Who pays parking tickets when the vehicle parks illegally? How to communicate with a vehicle where it can park, or the route you've chosen isn't supported by your fully autonomous vehicle?

The only way we'll get fully autonomous vehicles with no steering wheel and pedals is for early adopters who operate them in highly maintained areas.

Your points are valid. I will do my best to explain my point of view, I may be wrong as it's speculation.

Yes current computer vision tech can only work with the cleanest, crispest infrastructure. But that's now. Computers having human-like perception is not something in the far future, the industry marches at a blistering pace. This pace itself also increases quite rapidly year over year, as more talent is drawn to it and multiple related industries such as materials, semiconductors, and energy yield their own improvements. The timeline...well there are too many variables to guess. Could be soon, could be later but as I said, I do believe it's inevitable, as are many other things if we don't go extinct first.

But to answer your question about "how do we coordinate anything", it's rather simple once you have a network of vehicles that can instantly communicate with each other without our intervention. For example, a traffic light can have every stopped car start moving instantly in sync (no more reaction time delays piling up towards the back). Construction Zone? Your car knew about it before you even turned it on. Accident just happen a few hundred meters ahead? The cars that saw it can communicate it to your car before you even see it. Your car can coordinate with the cars next to it so you get around the accident at the optimal speed without any further collisions.

Not only will your car be able to do what it's told, it can agree with all surrounding cars (and other connected devices) on what they will do as a collective. It's not going to be easy making algorithms for multi-car situations such that they all instantly react to what's needed for each, but we can assume the raw processing power to run them will be there.

This is the true benefit of driverless, being able to sleep on your commute is just a minor bonus in comparison.

All this, I can only envision the 'highly maintained' areas being 100% dedicated NEW roads, perhaps above ground to connect large metro areas, for use only by guided driverless vehicles, taking into account all the network variations and real-time traffic monitoring. Thinking out loud after seeing quite a few movies using this concept. Meanwhile other 'normal' traffic down below can slowly progress as technology and the government inches forward.

 

[West Aussie]

Here in WA, we have a small driverless bus, that drives around the river area of Perth City.
it goes at 40km per hour, it’s already had an accident, and who is looking out for people paying the bus fare…why a conductor of course, because without someone present there would be people who wouldn’t pay (not me obviously ?) so if you still need someone on there, your not saving any money from the driver.
Its a novelty, tourist attraction thing at best….we are a fair way off everyone getting into driverless cars, for starters few would be able to afford them

 

[LeatherWings]

so if you still need someone on there, your not saving any money from the driver.

I'm fairly certain that a bus driver makes a much higher wage and requires far more training than a person who checks your bus ticket.

EDIT: ok, maybe not, lol. I just looked up the average salary a bus driver makes in Los Angeles, and it's not that much, especially when you account for the cost of living out here. $35.7k/year or $17 /hour, according to ZipRecruiter.

 

[West Aussie]

I'm fairly certain that a bus driver makes a much higher wage and requires far more training than a person who checks your bus ticket.

EDIT: ok, maybe not, lol. I just looked up the average salary a bus driver makes in Los Angeles, and it's not that much, especially when you account for the cost of living out here. $35.7k/year or $17 /hour, according to ZipRecruiter.

Yep..I already looked when it first started up…not much difference at all

 

[takemorepills]

I'm fairly certain that a bus driver makes a much higher wage and requires far more training than a person who checks your bus ticket.

EDIT: ok, maybe not, lol. I just looked up the average salary a bus driver makes in Los Angeles, and it's not that much, especially when you account for the cost of living out here. $35.7k/year or $17 /hour, according to ZipRecruiter.

And that's why bus drivers are always in a bad mood. Low pay, people attacking them, shitting on their bus.....

At least in Seattle, I could see autonomous bus becoming a toilet on wheels.

 

[jdm-rhd]

wow...$17 per hour? mcdonald's employees are getting $15 and $500 sign on bonuses...that's what's destroying my dollar menu

 

[takemorepills]

wow...$17 per hour? mcdonald's employees are getting $15 and $500 sign on bonuses...that's what's destroying my dollar menu

In WA state I believe McDonald's employees now start at $16 in the western cities

 

[fliplover]

We don't need government employees to do anything other than approve the projects. The heavily lifting can be subcontracted to the private sector.

This works in an ideal world. In a state like Illinois where government corruption is endemic from top to bottom, contracts like these get awarded to the company that is most connected (willing to pay bribes and kickbacks) rather than the most capable/lowest cost ones. As long as there is money to be made, this system will never change.

In a recent federal court case in Illinois, it was argued that sentencing defendants to prison as a means of deterrence was like "emptying Lake Michigan with a teaspoon."

Nobody in government is deterred by the thought of going to prison for corruption because the vast majority get away with it.

 

[LeatherWings]

At least in Seattle, I could see autonomous bus becoming a toilet on wheels.

Well, Seattle is all about autonomous zones, right?

 

[takemorepills]

Well, Seattle is all about autonomous zones, right?

Yup, I wish an earthquake would separate it and it could float away autonomously....