Comment by baron816
1 day ago
Robotaxis are good, but everyone owning a driverless car is bad.
Imagine you get to your destination, there’s no parking (or no free parking), so you tell your car to just circle the block while you’re inside. You spend an hour there at the tanning salon, and the car has just been circling, using the street as a parking lot and creating congestion. What happens when everyone does that?
I’m a big proponent of driverless cars, but we will need laws that ban individual private ownership. We’re going to have to experience the tragedy of the commons first because people really won’t want to give up their cars.
Private driverless cars will surely be a thing in the future because people will want them and be willing to pay for them. I sure would buy a Waymo style car if I could. I think it would be cool if they could drop you off at your destination and then circle around until it finds parking.
This is only a problem if the energy to drive around for an hour is cheaper than the cost to park for an hour, which it isn't.
I paid $40 to park for 3 hours in Boston yesterday. I could drive around the city at an average speed of 10-15 miles per hour for under $3 in gas per hour.