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There has been a lot of talk about self driving cars recently. Google is apparently making good progress on their's and racking up miles on public roads.
Assuming we work through any issues and these start to become a reality and eventually a common thing in the near future, how do they affect how we design our cities? Will it be as dramatic a change as when cars came into use? More density? More suburbanization / exurbanization?
I think it may spur a lot of changes. I think most people will eventually no longer own a car. Just use a "taxi" service to drive them around. Self driving cars would increase road capacity and reduce the stress of long commutes so I think that will continue people moving to land further out from the city. It will also allow for easier connections to mass transit if it would let you by pass traffic / save time / save money.
I think it will get rid of a lot of surface parking. Driveways and garages will disappear from houses allowing suburbs. The huge lots surrounding big box stores and all our buildings will go away and be replaced with more buildings creating more walk-able areas. All allowing for suburbs and urban areas to be denser.
On a whole I think it will shift us to cities that have dense cores and support easier urban living but will allow for people to still live far away and get into town with less stress. It will make it easier to live what lifestyle you choose.
Why would people not want to own a self driving car?
It would be cheaper and less hassle to just pay for a "taxi". The rich and those that really want it may still pay for the luxury of having a dedicated car. But it will no longer be required to economically travel around most areas as it is today. But it is just my theory.
I don't know. You could be right. I haven't been able to wrap my head around the concept because we are so behind when it comes to infrastructure for regular cars.
Part of me thinks that, like any new tech, the price would eventually be driven down.
the driverless feature is strictly an optional luxury item. which might be useful for the disabled who otherwise couldn't get around in a car because of their handicap but for everyone else its a totally nonessential luxury item that adds unnecessary cost and complexity to the vehicle. who wants to drive around with a giant spinning radar on the roof of their car anyways?
I want to take bus/subway to work. But i have to drive 5 miles to the park/ride, then ride a bus 10 miles to the subway station. Then get off the subway and take a bus 3 miles to my office. Total time about 55min. Drive direct 30mins. (Rush Hour). If a driverless car could pick me up when I want to leave home. Drop me at the subway station, a 2nd car waiting for me at destination station to wisk me off to work, drop me in front of building. Then go off to service someone else. or go to staging. That would be great. My company could eliminate the parking lot, and the sell the land, and the city would pick up additional rate ables.
One issue no one is talking about is liability. If the driveless car hits something who is going to take the liability ? Google?
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