Let's get cars off the road

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In today's world it seems that everyone needs to have a car or maybe two or three. One car to get to work, a truck to move your stuff, and perhaps a sports car for having some fun. Living in Canada it is almost impossible to get where you need to go in a timely manner without a vehicle.

The automobile is not without its problems though. They are expensive to buy and they are expensive to main. That is the obvious one that most people see. However, the fuel they use is polluting. They require maintenance which is expensive and it is always a bit hit or miss on finding a good mechanic. Then add in crowded streets, accidents, bad drivers and roadwork and having a car can be a real hassle.

But with long distances is there really any other option?

Actually in many major cities there are options. Uber is one I'm aware of in Canada and the USA. When I'm in the Philippines there is really no reason I'd ever want to drive when I can get a Grab anytime for a very reasonable price. When I'm in the Philippines it is so nice. No having to worry about parking a vehicle, no thoughts of fuel, maintenance or repairs. Just click my location and a car comes to take me there.

AWESOME!

Well, mostly. There are drivers in these vehicles. These drivers often make little money after they factor in fuel, maintenance and all that. Plus they can get grumpy on long shifts or may not know the area you are going to.

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The Solution: Self Driving cars

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Image source: Zoox

What would happen if we took all the private vehicles off the roads? No more need for parking spaces. No more need for driver services and driver licenses. My guess is that there would be far fewer accidents and with less cars I bet those people on the road would get where they needed to go a lot faster!

Now lets suppose that there was a large network of autonomous vehicles all connected in a network linked to an app. Call an Uber and an AI driven vehicle would show up at your place in short order. With every vehicle linked together in real time and every vehicle linked to an app you could see every driver and know almost instantly when the vehicle would be there.

Even better. You could plan in advance and the network wouldn't forget and be there almost exactly when you needed it. Want to share the cost? Every car could work like a mini bus where the cost was shared.

But there are problems

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Problems with autonomous vehicles

Unfortunately people and machines don't drive well on roads together. People tend to be more aggressive and don't always follow the rules. Machines tend to follow all the rules and be more cautious which annoys human drivers. An autonomous fleet would have its own mechanics and own maintenance schedule potentially putting gas stations and repair shops out of business. If one fleet ran all the vehicles and there were on personal automobiles it would put car dealerships out of business. If the company got one blanket insurance policy for all its vehicles it would put the average insurance company out of business, no more need to write policies for every individual vehicle owner. Of course, Uber drivers, Taxi Drivers and maybe even delivery drivers would all be out of work.

Losing that many jobs all at once? Never going to happen. Besides, people like owning their own vehicles far too much to let them go.

And accidents happen and machines aren't perfect

Of course how much do you want to get into a driverless vehicle? Do you trust the car not to send you into a ditch? People are used to trusting people and not machines! Then the idea of who is responsible for a crash? The manufacturer? The owner? The owner of the dog that gets run over? Typically a person is responsible for their actions but there is no person in this instance.

My thought is that is why it is great if there is a corporation that owns all the self driving vehicles. As an example if "Uber" owned a large fleet. They pay one large premium and make sure that the vehicles are as safe or safer than human drivers. Yes, there will be accidents on occasion but if the vehicles are safer than humans the insurance premiums will be lower too.

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Alas, it is not to be in the near future

As much as I wish there were autonomous vehicles in my future I really doubt it will happen any time soon. A world where traffic gets much lighter without more roads. A world where public transportation doesn't suck and traffic flows smoothly just isn't here yet.

So, we get to wait.....and I'll dream in a time where one app gets me wherever I need to go safely and cheaply