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[NinjaBoot]

I've ridden the public transit in California.  It didn't exactly blow me away in terms of coverage or quality.  Yes the San Fran cable cars were very nice, but they were also packed to the gills and we had to wait for a few cars to be able to fit.

I read some study a while back that decided that place with the best public transit in the US was D.C.  This was a bit of a surprise to D.C. residents because everyone in the city loves to bitch and moan about Metro.  On the other hand Washington post did a poll where they asked city visitors what they thought of Metro and the results were enthusiastic praise.  That kinda surprised residents.

OT:  Are they still going through with that fancy new rail line in Cali?

Public transportation?  Man, the nearest city is 800k away from me!  When I was in the city (Edmonton, Alberta), it was pretty efficient at what it does, although it was a pain in the ass to have to be up at 6:30 to get to school by 8am!  What sucks is if you have to bus from one half of the city to the other, even as efficient as it was up here, it was still pretty annoying, and I'm guessing it sucks even worse down yonder!

[RedKing]

Given the level of efficiency and accident prevention that an automated network would bring? I don't see the government ignoring something that valuable. They're stupid, but they're not that stupid.

That would cost a ton of money. They're cheap, and they are that cheap.

I don't think it would ultimately cost that much at all. It's reliant upon computers, which are cheap and getting cheaper all the time. That's probably the only reason we don't have one already.

I think you'd see a lot of resistance because it's surrendering control. A lot of people are not going to be comfortable with the notion of climbing into a car that a computer is driving. Even though the computer is almost certainly a better driver than they are. Probably would be best received in large cities, where people are already plenty used to transit systems where they're not driving (subway, bus, taxi, etc.) Outside of the mega-metros, it's a tough sell.

I *do* remember a proposal one time (or maybe a Popular Science article or something) of creating these high-powered car carriers for the interstate system. So, say you're starting in Raleigh, NC. You drive your car up onto the carrier, and when it's loaded, it screams off down I-40 at 100mph or more in a dedicated lane, then stops at each major city between here and California. So when you get to the closest stop to your final destination, your car is unloaded and off you go. You'd pay based on how far you rode on it, kind of like a toll highway. And the cost would ideally be less than you would have spent in gas by driving it yourself. Plus, instead of a grueling 8-hour drive to Memphis, you can kick back and sleep or read or even grab a bite to eat. It's kind of a "road train". I think it never happened because the carrier would need to be huge to achieve the necessary economy of scale to make it viable, the kind of engine you'd need wouldn't be fuel efficient, and the roads simply aren't built to handle a behemoth like that.

[mainiac]

They have something like that for trains running down the east coast to Florida.  It's a bit pricey (less so if you fit 7 people in a car) but it's a very nice service and a very comfortable ride.

[RedKing]

Nice. I think the ideal situation would be some kind of a houseboat with an onboard garage and debarking ramp. So you could cruise all around the coast, then when you dock, drive your car down the ramp and into town to get supplies. With high-speed satellite broadband.

Oh gods, I'm turning into L. Ron Hubbard. 

[MaximumZero]

It's gotta be a big boat, though. We will get that B12 fortress going yet.

[Frumple]

Naah, just a floating house. They've got plenty of those (not sure how many with a garage, as they're usually fairly small, but...), though I'm not sure how many are seaworthy. They're usually on rivers or lakes, more placid stuff. Been in a couple, they're fairly nice.

Maybe a small one of those artificial island things they're working on... just with a motor or something. Maybe team of trained hauling dolphins

[mainiac]

Nice. I think the ideal situation would be some kind of a houseboat with an onboard garage and debarking ramp. So you could cruise all around the coast, then when you dock, drive your car down the ramp and into town to get supplies. With high-speed satellite broadband.

Oh gods, I'm turning into L. Ron Hubbard. 

Boats are pretty slow compared to trains.  And if you've got that kind of money you could just get a private rail car.  Private rail cars are frickin' awesome.

[MetalSlimeHunt]

What I'd like to see is a realization of the proposal to create a vacuum-sealed rail system. It would be kind of like a normal train, except put inside a vacuum created in a tube around the track (probably elevated like a monorail). Because there's no air to slow the train down, it could go several thousand miles per hour easily. Obviously the train itself is also sealed, but with air inside so that the passengers don't die.

The article I read said that if we dug a tunnel under the Atlantic and put one of these vaccum tube systems in it, a train could go from New York to London....in 25 minutes.

[alfie275]

I think you'd see a lot of resistance because it's surrendering control. A lot of people are not going to be comfortable with the notion of climbing into a car that a computer is driving.

People seem fine flying in computer controlled aircraft.

Also I totally want HUD glasses. I saw these ones that used internal reflection of the glass before, but can't remember brand name.

[mainiac]

Vacuum train would be well and good I guess but I just wanna see basic railways in this country.

[Flying Dice]

I think you'd see a lot of resistance because it's surrendering control. A lot of people are not going to be comfortable with the notion of climbing into a car that a computer is driving.

People seem fine flying in computer controlled aircraft.

Also I totally want HUD glasses. I saw these ones that used internal reflection of the glass before, but can't remember brand name.

Yeah, and they'd be fine with flying cars if a person was hired to sit in the front seat and appear to be flying it. So we don't want aircars, we want airtaxis.

[Montague]

America? Mass transit? Nah, dude.

To make mass transit effective, you'd need to either double the population of the US or consolate half the population into walkable urban areas.

Neither of which will ever happen.

[kaijyuu]

Relevant to computer controlled cars.


There would be opposition. Lots of it.


I mean, I'd love to have no more human drivers on the road myself. Just ain't happening anytime soon.

[MrWiggles]

So Google open up their own TED, called Solve for X.

Its great so far, but I want to know how this guy got to be a speaker? http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=TE0n_5qPmRM

[Levi]

Relevant to computer controlled cars.


There would be opposition. Lots of it.


I mean, I'd love to have no more human drivers on the road myself. Just ain't happening anytime soon.

It would be huge in the co-op/car-share businesses though.  And people like me who are terrible drivers would love to have a computer controlled car.