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Comment by echelon

Despite city dwellers hating on cars and wanting complete streets, cars are poised to win even bigger when self driving becomes widespread.

Our roads and highways will metamorphose into logistics corridors and optimal public transit systems.

Everything will be delivered same hour. The cost of this will drop and entire new business models will be built on top of the "direct to you" model.

Self-driving cars will replace public transit. They connect every destination on demand. Short hops, cross-country long-haul. Waymo alikes will become cheaper than the city bus.

Van life will accelerate. People will live in their automated vans and SUVs. They'll become luxury and status items for knowledge workers who are constantly conveying themselves coast to coast, from cozy fire pits by the sea to hidden mountain getaways. Life in America will become one of constant travel, because we can take our life with us without lifting a finger. People will have large home bases in the affordable suburbs - possibly one on each coast. They'll wine and dine in the city, then be off to hike the next day.

Life will turn into adventure and it'll be accessible to almost everyone. Rich, poor. Young, old. Busy, retired.

Nobody will lift a finger for any of this.

We're going to want more roads.

Bikes don't stand a chance. They're inequitable. Old people, pregnant people, sick people, and children are all left out. They suck in the rain and the snow. You can't move anything of size or scale.

Automated self driving cars will win.

parent echelon 10 months ago

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