Qagggy Jun 22, 2023
2008 v. 2023: I don’t think people realize the extent to which parked cars degrade public space.
Show threadJ PJun 22, 2023
@qag Can't wait for automated cars to completely change the urban and rural landscape. Caverns of underground parking and high speed tunnel roads should leave the surface clear for people to exist safely but also be able to travel point to point. Add in solar charging and we could even have free travel. I hope.
Show threadLisPi

@jaypatel @qag That really doesn't have any benefit over rails, still encourages conspicuous consumption and even adds more failure modes than rail would have.

Not needing batteries in metros means one less explosion, fire & fume hazard. Or do you suggest all those cars have the battery removed and pantographs added?

Jun 24, 2023 at 4:44pmWeb
Show threadJ PJul 20, 2023
@lispi314 @qag The advantage over rail in my view is that cars have the ability to go from door-to-door, where rail is only station-to-station. The cost per mile of autonomous vehicles is also comparable to public transport however rail does have economies of scale overall in its side.
Show threadLisPiJul 20, 2023

@jaypatel @qag With halfway sensible urban planning/design the door-to-door distances not covered by rail are fairly small and would be best served by bikes (among which folding bikes have the benefit of being compact & possible to bring all the time on the rail transports).

Adding back cars would just result in absurd unsustainable infrastructure bloat and wasteful energy expenditure while at the same time screwing pedestrians in a way very similar to what is witnessed in North America.