A group of protesters is disabling robotaxis by placing cones on their hoods, and I am laughing my ass off.
Autonomous cars are a blight, and it is the private-profit-maximizing opposite of what we need in dense, urban areas (i.e. more pedestrian spaces, fewer cars, more transit).
The energy here is pure chaotic good and I’m loving it.
“Grumpy Locals Are Sabotaging Cruise and Waymo Robotaxis With Traffic Cones”
#sfba #robotaxi #autonomousCars #sanFrancisco #chaoticGood
https://www.thedrive.com/news/rebels-are-disabling-waymo-cruise-robotaxis-with-traffic-cones
@drahardja think there is a place for autonomous vehicles in areas where public transportation doesn’t make financial sense but walking is impractical (rural areas etc), and certainly we’ve seen how utterly terrifying humans are at driving. But what I don’t know is if it will ever get autonomy to work truly safely.
@richardknott @drahardja on the other hand, these companies want to make money, so rural areas are not their target...
Also most big cities in the US are not made for humans, they're made for cars in the first place...
@richardknott @nicolaromano Let’s make a deal: instead of letting venture startups run the service, cities own and operate robotaxis as part of their transit system as a nonprofit. Yes?
Trick question! No city will do this even if they have the budget for it, because hiring human drivers and using conventional light-duty EVs would be more sensible and sustainable. So let’s not kid ourselves about why these vehicles exist: to make big money for investors, using our streets as its infrastructure.
@nicolaromano @drahardja Point. Moneys is where the people is. But regarding your second point, considering the cost of implementing public transport like trams and trains especially in cities so far behind like the US, is it more achievable in the sorter term for Robo taxis should they become practical (big if) to reduce car ownership and emissions? Or go down the tram or trolley bus route and try and stop automakers buying them out and getting rid of them again?