• SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world
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    6 days ago

    Autonomous vehicles - very much unlike the Tesla snake oil - are not geared towards ownership, and would actually reduce road usage while increasing safety.

    • Rentlar@lemmy.caOP
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      6 days ago

      I thought so too originally, but the linked video shows a few reasons why it wouldn’t. Autonomous cars have the same space inefficiency per passenger (in some cases worse) as driven cars. They still need a place to charge, but that can’t be only in non-congested areas because people wouldn’t want to stand around waiting 12 minutes for their pickup. If they don’t use parking they’d spend their day roaming around, causing traffic like 24/7 taxi drivers waiting for an order except taking up road space.

      And watch with Elon Musk in government and schedule F employees, safety will be the nth priority behind profits for Tesla.

    • n2burns@lemmy.ca
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      5 days ago

      As the video points out, what you’re describing is very similar to what was said about Uber & Lyft. At first glance, a cheaper, more available taxi service seems like it should reduce road usage. However, that assumes car trips are replaced by rideshare trips. In actuality, when Uber & Lyft have entered a market, it has resulted in increased road usage. This is because of induced demand, and if rideshares are replacing another form of transportation, it’s usually public transit, walking, or biking, not driving.

        • n2burns@lemmy.ca
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          6 days ago

          Taxis existed before Uber and Lyft. What’s being touted is that AVs will be cheaper and more available than ridesharing, the same way ridingsharing was to taxis.

          • SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world
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            6 days ago

            No, the difference was that you could summon an Uber from an app, and it would actually show up.

    • yonder@sh.itjust.works
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      6 days ago

      Please watch the video as it provides reasons as to why autonomous cars will reduce safety and increase road usage. I could however see autonomous vehicules being useful for long-haul cargo transport, though trains might be a better choice.