Beoz

I don't disagree with any of what it is or what it could be.

Bringing to market will be the challenge. Winning hearts and minds

ozzieeagle

Imagine booking a cruise out of Sydney, getting into one of these driverless cars in Melbourne overnight and having a kip along the way. Only to be delivered straight to the ship.... No weight restrictions on luggage, no need to book overnight accom, and the probability of entertainment/food/drinks along the way. The holiday starts as soon as your driverless car pulls up to your front door.

I personally cannot wait for this next step in transport.

There's going to be a massive market in private tracks and roads for people that still want to have the feel of driving.

ozzieeagle

Oh one question I keep thinking but forgetting to ask.

Does the driverless revolution negate the need for Public Transport ?

IE: do we need superfast trainlinks to up the east coast etc etc ? I can see the need for freight but maybe improving the road system really is the way to go... have a dedicated fast road where these cars and trucks can cruise at 200kph plus ?

GarryP

Way I see it there's still a place for high speed rail, since I doubt these vehicles will go particularly fast (safety, efficiency, etc.) They do however make a mess of the rest of the metro rail, buses, trams, etc. particularly if you have those maxi-taxi sized vehicles with different people in them going to different places, all pretty much on the same route.

Other thing I worked out last night, it also eventually solves much of the commute issue, since you can turn a 3+3 line arterial road into a 5+1 road at particular times of day - provided every car is under computer control.

As such I expect the main roads/toll roads etc. will go automated-only fairly quickly - particularly if they can raise speed limits as a result.

And you are right, long distance automated cars with lay flat seats will become a thing...

ozzieeagle

Look out for the company that releases the first big fleet of driverless hireable/flagfall cars onto the market.... Could be worth investing in. I would think it could be something a car producing company itself could be looking at.

May well need lots of high rise car parks/charging stations as well.

GarryP

There's an investment opportunity in high density automated parking on the outskirts of cities. It won't take very long for councils to ban parking in the city centre and commercial parking in the centre is just taking up space that could be better used - hence automated parking on the near outskirts. Charging built in is a no brainer, but you can't have any mucking about with tickets or gates either.

Beoz

Hhmmm. Why spend 10 hours in a car when you can spend 1 on an aeroplane? Unlimited luggage? How much luggage do you really need to go on a cruise?

I can't even see see high speed rail being an advantage where an hour flight can do the job. Where high speed rail works is up to the 600km mark. Any more you fly. Perhaps that's where yoy may look at a driverless bus at some point.

The biggest stopper will be governments. Can't see any regulations being adopted in the near future for fully automated travel. They already park themselves.

GarryP

Actually I'd say the biggest problem is lawyers (as per usual).

At present we retain the fiction that if you are behind the wheel, you are responsible for everything that happens - despite that not being the case. As such insurance buffers you against lawyers attempting to steal your stuff on the basis of accidents.

If you move to things being obviously automated, that fiction becomes less and less viable - and now the lawyers are after the car manufacturers to extort money from accidents.

Assuming you get to the stage where automation is safer than human drivers (and we seem to be basically there) then the only real issue is muzzling those lawyers. You can achieve this two ways. Either you get those politicians to change the laws; or as an automated vehicle manufacturer you have a crack legal team to beat up any lawyer that stands against you. Both are viable when you look at the muscle of the companies concerned.

I wouldn't be surprised to see a few cases being promoted by the car companies to set legal precedents early on (eg if a human driven car hits an automated car, then the human is always in the wrong).

Politicians will just follow the money, and there are lots of benefits in cost terms to companies being able to get rid of drivers and automate transportation - why do you think there are 'pilots' of these systems on the roads as we speak?

Swerv-o

Hmmm, not so sure. Look at how taxi drivers have responded to Uber - strikes, assaults, violence, marches etc. I'm sure they will embrace driverless flagfall cars in the same way...


S

ozzieeagle

Be fair Beoz, the actual figure "door to door" CBD to CBD.... for a flight between Sydney and Melbourne would be closer to 3 hours, taking security, check in and travelling to and from airports etc.... and that would be on a good day.

Beoz

This morning I left my house in Syd at 7:30am, had breakfast in the lounge, 9am flew to Melb, arrived 10:30 and was at the hotel in the CBD at 11:15. So closer to 4 hours but still better than 10 hours

ozzieeagle

Once these cars are up and running there's a capacity for 4 hours door to door IMO..... Definitely 5 hours. That depends on the law makers rather than the technology which is definitely capable.

Beoz

And roads. Aussie motorways aren't built for 150km/h ++

Swerv-o

They're barely built for 100...


S

GarryP

Gentlemen, you are neglecting that the same automation that can be put in cars can be put in planes. Take your automated car to the local airport and an automated aircraft turns up to whisk you off to an airport close to your destination, where the reverse happens.