Would you travel in a driverless taxi.

[Welly]

No I would not use one, how would a driverless taxi know that the previous fare had been sick in it (or worse) and turn itself in for cleaning before coming to me?

 

[johncrossley]

No I would not use one, how would a driverless taxi know that the previous fare had been sick in it (or worse) and turn itself in for cleaning before coming to me?

Presumably there would be an option to reject an unsuitable vehicle when it arrives. There would be so many vehicles available that a replacement would arrive within a few minutes. There may even be sensors and cameras inside that could automatically detect problems and automatically send itself to be cleaned.

 

[deltic]

It is difficult to compare present tariffs for conventional and driverless taxis as they are done on a different basis but looking at San Franciso the charges for Cruise driverless taxis (presently suspended) versus the cost of a regulated taxi are very similar for short journeys - up to around 5 miles - but become a lot cheaper for longer journeys as the cost per mile is a lot lower. However, its not clear whether Cruise set their fares low like Uber did to begin with to win market share.

One comparison found on line from a few months ago for a 9pm journey came up with following quotes

• Cruise $22.20 - 4min pickup, 46min ride
• UberX: $23.94 - 4min pickup, 24min ride
• Lyft: $28.94 - 5min pickup, 35min ride

The longer journey time for Cruise is because it avoided the freeway and took local roads. One difference in the US is that a driver would expect a tip which obviously doesn't apply for Cruise.

 

[Lucan]

There would of course be a profit margin for the operator, but that would be vastly lower than the cost of paying a human.

Don't forget to factor in the cost of repairing the vandalism and other abuse these things would suffer.

 

[Meerkat]

How would driverless taxis get around disability legislation? IF RRBs couldn’t just have a few accessible and then loads not so surely taxis can’t get away with that?

 

[deltic]

How would driverless taxis get around disability legislation? IF RRBs couldn’t just have a few accessible and then loads not so surely taxis can’t get away with that?

They would be equipped with the requisite ramps, guide rails, audio, visual messagea etc just as with a bus. There is no requirement for a bus driver to physically assist a disabled passenger board as far as I'm aware so don't see any problem with a driverless taxi.

 

[Peter Wilde]

The big technology challenge is making autonomous vehicles capable of driving safely and efficiently - not in well behaved traffic in wide American spaces, but in the full range of cramped conditions on British/European roads, with cramped roadworks, policemen, badly marked narrow lanes, drunk pedestrians, bullying and unpredictable human drivers of other cars, etc.

If that can be done at all, it’s likely to be still a long way off, possibly a decade or two.

But if it can eventually be done - yes I would use one. All the other issues mentioned above would be relatively easy to address by suitable technology, e.g. video surveillance of car interiors, sniffers to detect vomit, and so forth.

The big advantage would be to urban spaces - no more huge car parks, or roads clogged by parked cars. Most people would find the economics compelling if it is possible to summon a reliable autonomous taxi, instead of paying the huge cost of owning a vehicle that is parked un-used for most of its existence.

 

[jon0844]

It's difficult because a parked car isn't (when parked) adding to congestion,or using any energy, but a taxi driving around empty a lot of the time is taking up roadspace when, potentially, empty.

It is also using energy to get around to go the next job, and although they'd certainly employ tech to work out the most efficient routing based on where every vehicle is, there would be the need for it to drive somewhere to charge, be cleaned, and people may be able to order a specific type of vehicle (people carrier type, one that can take a wheelchair etc).

I don't believe we're anywhere near ready for level 5 autonomy, but if we were then it might still be better for individuals to own one - not use a taxi. Then it's your vehicle, with your stuff (you can leave things in it) and always near you. If it can drive itself with NO user input, the idea of getting a cab because you've had a drink wouldn't apply.

The only problem then is parking, but if we want to solve that and congestion in general then we need to be taking more cars off the road as people use other options entirely.

 

[Whistler40145]

No, there's every chance of a malfunction

 

[johncrossley]

Congestion should be less of a problem because they will be able to drive closer together safely. In particular, junction capacity would be improved. If congestion is a problem in certain areas then driverless buses or trams would take up the slack on the major corridors with single or low occupancy vehicles waiting at strategic locations to take people to the exact end destinations. Basically similar to how integrated transport works in Germanic cities but with driverless vehicles used to connect instead of buses.

 

[The Ham]

Congestion should be less of a problem because they will be able to drive closer together safely. In particular, junction capacity would be improved. If congestion is a problem in certain areas then driverless buses or trams would take up the slack on the major corridors with single or low occupancy vehicles waiting at strategic locations to take people to the exact end destinations. Basically similar to how integrated transport works in Germanic cities but with driverless vehicles used to connect instead of buses.

I'm not sure that you'd gain much extra capacity from cars travelling closer together. If we assume 30mph (which is 13.4m/s) with a 2 second gap between vehicles you'd be able to fit 3 cars in every 100m of road space (2.5 seconds per vehicle), drop that to a 1 second gap and it's 5 cars in 100m (1.5 seconds per vehicle).

Whilst in theory that would mean a change from 1,500 cars an hour to 2,400 cars per hour, that's assuming no junctions, as soon as you have to allow for junctions (unless every car is able to talk to one another, and even then I'm not so sure, to allow them to filter between each other as they cross junctions at right angles to each other) that capacity is going to fall quite quickly.

It also assumes 100% of vehicles are automated (which is unlikely in the next 15 years).

However even at peak flow with 1.4 people per car you're going to max out at 3,360 people, you could carry the same number of people in about 120 buses with about 30 people in each bus with the gap between the buses at about 30 seconds.

 

[Meerkat]

The only problem then is parking

If the car is autonomous it opens up more parking options - parking further away or in stacking systems. Doesn't matter if unparking takes longer if you summon your car to meet you at the pick up point before you leave your desk. Also can be parked closer together if the doors dont need to open, and theoretically you could have the car park take over the cars - park them up tight and then tell a row "shunt forward, the car at the back needs to get out".

Congestion should be less of a problem because they will be able to drive closer together safely

I am not convinced by this. Legals will make the cars obey the law and drive cautiously - humans dont obey braking distances, barge their way through, ignore pedestrians stepping into the road etc (refraining from commenting whether taxi drivers are worse than average on this.....). Once pedestrians realise that they can step out and the car will stop it will be mayhem! For the manufacturers to program the cars with "I had priority so I mowed them down" would be courageous!

 

[Krokodil]

Once pedestrians realise that they can step out and the car will stop it will be mayhem!

Imagine how easy it would be for Horace de Vere Cole

 

[jon0844]

Still a LONG way to go methinks.... and concludes that the only way it might work is dedicated roads/lanes that don't mix with people or human driven cars (something I concluded years ago).

Description: A deep dive into autonomous vehicles, customizing your own, and everyone trying to run over both plastic and actual kids.

(There are of course many videos saying how wonderful the tech is and how it's just around the corner, for those people who still believe it's coming soon)