The end of the line

In my city they are putting in a tram line that has taken 100 years to decide upon. It has gone through so many changes, agreements, disagreements and more changes that it took close to forever to get it approved. Being built between two lakes, the city has a transport problem they are trying to fix as the city grows. A lot of people have complained because in all likelihood, it will actually increase the traffic issues as they streetcars take up road themselves. However, that is in the short-term only I think.

With the pending explosion of not only electric, but self-driving cars, the need for so many cars reduces as people will be able to use their cars as taxis while they themselves don't need to be in them. While they sit at work, the car can take fares rather than sit idly in the car park.

When going into the city, it will mean that cars are able to become shuttle services and take people in but not need to park close by which means, a reduction in car parks required both in the cities.

This will also likely affect the car park needs at apartment buildings as those who don't often need a car may opt to rent the taxi service ones from neighbors rather than buy or, perhaps the building's body corporate may biy their own and add a revenue stream.

There are also a whole range of other things that perhaps people don't consider with the self-driving cars of the future. For example, because the cars know where each other is at all times and in combination with all the sensors, they are able to drive much closer together safely. That means that road networks are able to be reduced in width significantly. If a road can be 30% narrower, the savings are enormous.

The AI drivers of those cars are also going to be the best drivers in whatever the conditions happen to be and be able to shift persona on the fly and immediately. In time, there will be very few human drivers who are able to outperform them as they will be learning on a hive mind system and as one learns a new technique, all learn near instantly.

This is also why the questions of moral coding want be an important factor for very long as due to their coming ubiquity, they will experience and make mistakes but, the answers to those mistakes once found will be uploaded to all other cars instantly so, none will make the same mistake again.

I think there is a certain inevitability when it comes to self-driving and electric technology and no matter how much some nations and industries may repress it, eventually it will be the standard. This will result in one of the greatest redesigns of cities ever seen as they will no longer need to be designed with cars in mind in the same way. Instead, it will be the humans that interact in the cities that take precedence.

There will be the potential for more green space, more walking areas, leisure spaces and the opportunity to make cities human friendly. Yes, there is a lot of ifs, ands and buts however, there is a lot of potential that changing the way we transport ourselves will have a large effect on how we interact as a community.

With the ability to share services more personally and privately, it will open up a massive range of opportunity to either save or make revenue streams. I am hoping that this will be a string on the bow of decentralization where people are more involved with infrastructure operation and, blockchain tech to keep track of the hundreds of millions of micro transactions involved each day. Perhaps it will even be possible that public transport is not only publicly owned but also part operated.

I can't predict the future but my hope is that technology facilitates our living rather than restricts it. We spend so much time and money worrying about what cars we have but potentially with AI and self-driving, the car loses its status symbol quality and fades into the background to become a tool again. "I just want something to take me from A to B" could actually become a true statement and that need doesn't require ownership to fill.

Taraz
[ a Steem original ]