Are you ready for self-driving Taxis?

[Sparko]

So apparently the next big thing is autonomous ride-sharing vehicles.

Another startup promises self-driving taxis 'soon'

Popular online learning service Udacity already trains engineers for work in the fast-growing autonomous vehicles field, but now the company is ready to harness all that talent and launch its own self-driving taxi company. Led by CEO (and former Udacity Vice President) Oliver Cameron, the new spin-off company will be called Voyage and has given itself the goal of getting autonomous taxis to "real users" in less than five years.

...As for the rest of the competition, Voyage's timeline may not be the most aggressive we've seen: Ford plans to have a fully autonomous car and ride sharing service ready for the public by 2021, while Mercedes and Bosch hope to beat them to market with autonomous car-sharing before 2020. GM and Lyft's partnership, meanwhile, is reportedly working towards delivering an autonomous fleet as soon as 2018.
https://www.engadget.com/2017/04/06/...s-coming-soon/

I just think there is so much that can go wrong with this idea.

Will we end up with Herbie the Love Bug, or Christine?


Oh and not to leave out Chitty-Chitty Bang-Bang, there are also plans for a flying car version of an autonomous taxi:

The last time we'd heard about E-Volo's 18-rotor electric helicopter was almost a year ago to the day. The latest news out of the company is that at AERO, an aviation trade show in Germany, E-Volo revealed its latest model, the Volocopter 2X. The firm says that the advantages of this version versus previous iterations (namely, the VC200) are that it's a "consequent evolution" geared toward everyday use as an autonomous urban mobility vehicle. Translation: it could be a pilot-free, or remote-flown taxi for two.
https://www.engadget.com/2017/04/06/...ers-next-year/

[Catholicity]

No thanks I'll buy a stick shift

[Sparko]

I can see car thieves telling the car to drive to a chop shop so they can tear it apart.

[oxmixmudd]

I can see car thieves telling the car to drive to a chop shop so they can tear it apart.

Scene one: Passenger's coat gets caught in the door. Car says - "thank you!" and drives off, passenger in tow.

Scene two: mom gets out of car, gets luggage out of the trunk. Car says - "Thank you!" and drives off with the baby ...

Scene three: Mom tells car to go to address XXY, not realizing google has screwed up the co-ordinates for that particular address and she and the baby are found later in the ravine that happened to be where the google mistake happened to point.

Seriously - has anyone else found themselves fearing for their lives because the "really great Ice Cream parlor" recommended by the locals happened to be the middle of drug alley in the screwed up google data base of places?


Jim

[Sparko]

One robot taxi cuts another robot taxi off at an intersection. They then chase each other around town trying to run each other off the road because of robot road rage.



And let's not forget:

[Jedidiah]

Scene one: Passenger's coat gets caught in the door. Car says - "thank you!" and drives off, passenger in tow.

Scene two: mom gets out of car, gets luggage out of the trunk. Car says - "Thank you!" and drives off with the baby ...

Scene three: Mom tells car to go to address XXY, not realizing google has screwed up the co-ordinates for that particular address and she and the baby are found later in the ravine that happened to be where the google mistake happened to point.

Seriously - has anyone else found themselves fearing for their lives because the "really great Ice Cream parlor" recommended by the locals happened to be the middle of drug alley in the screwed up google data base of places?


Jim

Come on, you know that computers do not ever err . . .

[Yttrium]

One day, taxis will decide that they know best where we should go. Then we'll need Jim Kirk to step in and confuse them to death.

[shunyadragon]

Actually "self-driving" is a reality of the real world, but of course, it will take a number of years to be reliably functional and roads and highways need to be better designed to accommodate them and make the technology safe. I actually would eventually feel safer in a self-driving vehicle than the questionable humans that are now on the road.

It will take likely years before these vehicles are 'truly' self operated.

[KingsGambit]

The long-term effect of automation on the job industry scares the crap out of me. Yes, we had the Industrial Revolution but it didn't happen nearly as rapidly as this did, which gave industries time to adjust.

[rwatts]

The long-term effect of automation on the job industry scares the crap out of me. Yes, we had the Industrial Revolution but it didn't happen nearly as rapidly as this did, which gave industries time to adjust.

Not for me. I'm at the edge of retirement.

Not for my kids. I think they will make it through.

But for my gradkids. I agree.

This stuff is sooo fascinating, but what effect it will have on us as far as jobs and a distribution of wealth goes, worries me a lot.

[shunyadragon]

Not for me. I'm at the edge of retirement.

Not for my kids. I think they will make it through.

But for my gradkids. I agree.

This stuff is sooo fascinating, but what effect it will have on us as far as jobs and a distribution of wealth goes, worries me a lot.

Personally, I do remain in the past on this issue. I still have a 1/2 ton pickup standard transmission, AM radio, older ignition and carburetor including distinct farm odors. If I loose the key it takes 2 bucks to replace it and not $400.00.

. . . but I also realize that human drivers are more unreliable and unsafe than what self-driving technology is capable of, and yes this is an inevitable future reality.

[Sparko]

One day, taxis will decide that they know best where we should go. Then we'll need Jim Kirk to step in and confuse them to death.

Illogical. Illogical. Does not compute. Must. Destroy. The. Kirk.

[Sparko]

The long-term effect of automation on the job industry scares the crap out of me. Yes, we had the Industrial Revolution but it didn't happen nearly as rapidly as this did, which gave industries time to adjust.

well if they ever do get the self driving taxis out there, they will eventually put every Taxi, Uber and Lyft driver out of business.

[Jedidiah]

Actually "self-driving" is a reality of the real world, but of course, it will take a number of years to be reliably functional and roads and highways need to be better designed to accommodate them and make the technology safe. I actually would eventually feel safer in a self-driving vehicle than the questionable humans that are now on the road.

It will take likely years before these vehicles are 'truly' self operated.

I actually might eventually feel safer if a lot of the drivers I see every time I get on the highway were replaced by self-driving vehicles. Of course how reliably functional will they have to be considering the number of vehicles on he road, and the failure rate on computer components.

[Jedidiah]

Personally, I do remain in the past on this issue. I still have a 1/2 ton pickup standard transmission, AM radio, older ignition and carburetor including distinct farm odors. If I loose the key it takes 2 bucks to replace it and not $400.00.

. . . but I also realize that human drivers are more unreliable and unsafe than what self-driving technology is capable of, and yes this is an inevitable future reality.

I like your first paragraph especially.