Doesn't matter what route you go down; if you try to actually fix traffic, you will always end up inventing busses and trains.
Are trains and busses the crabs of automotives?
People really hate the idea of trains
Our rail system has been so terrible for so long that people are unable to even consider the possibility that it doesn't have to be shit
I love trains, but hate shitty trains. I'll gladly take a 10 hour train ride instead of a 1 hour flight. But when tens are late, cancelled, delayed by priority cargo trains, etc, it makes me hate trains...
It doesn't make me hate trains, it makes me hate the car and aviation industries for influencing governments and the general public.
In Canada trains suck in general because of all you mentioned, but I'm aware that it's caused by putting all of our money into highways, airports and the aviation industry, rather than putting a single dollar into owning and building more tracks.
What about a 5 hour blimp ride instead
Huh? Our rail system seems to be just fine. I'm not so hot about the new faster train to Turku though
How about self driving buses?
Trains are really cool, but not ideal for low traffic conditions + areas requiring a lot of route flexibility. We definitely should build a lot more trains/trams than what were building right now, but self driving buses will still have a very large use case.
No one wants a bus! That's not cool.
However, I've invented a revolutionary "shared mega limo". It's like an Uber, but with 50 seats, and optionally you can ride standing if you're sporty. It's the size of a bus, but definitely not a bus.
Now put that on smaller tracks and give it the right of way everywhere! Now you got
tramsshared mega limo on rails!
The trick is you do both buses and trains. You use the buses to connect communities that don't have large transit requirements between them and then for commuting you use buses to direct people to train stations where they can get the trains to work/ where they need to go en masse. Transportation is a multilevel solution that requires multiple modes to get people where they need to go but you can't just rely on buses as quite frankly they lack the ability move all that many people even across quite short distances.
Also to address the self driving part: autonomous road vehicles that can operate safely and at scale are well in the fucking magic territory of technology. If you want a proven highly autonomous travel technique that works trains have been doing it for decades.
The trick is you do both buses and trains. You use the buses to connect communities that don’t have large transit requirements between them and then for commuting you use buses to direct people to train stations where they can get the trains to work/ where they need to go en masse. Transportation is a multilevel solution that requires multiple modes to get people where they need to go but you can’t just rely on buses as quite frankly they lack the ability move all that many people even across quite short distances.
Multi-modal transport! This really is the way to do it and it's a damn shame that so many governments still seem hell-bent on the highway only. TxDOT's motto literally might as well be if you don't like it get out. The way it should be is this: If you wanna drive, drive but you are going to pay for your fair share. Nothing terribly expensive as seen $9 a day is all it takes in New York, and as an added benefit the reduced traffic from people taking other means will cause less car traffic for you. Sunny day and you want to enjoy the scenery, you got time? Separate grade bike paths along multipurpose drainage areas already being used and government-owned ROW, can bike wherever you're going on those shorter trips. Pouring rain outside and not safe to ride, but don't want to drive? Take the bus, a raincoat will keep you dry for the walk between home and the covered bus stop. Need to get to the airport across town? That's 30 miles, take the train and you'll be there soon and not have to worry about car parking since you left the car at home.
This really is how things should be. But that would also mean big finance from car loans and big auto from repairs and costs, big insurance from legal fees of cars, and big energy sector from oil / gas / polymers / etc would all lose from less resources used. So they pressured the shit out of government to change things for the worse. Hopefully it gets better soon before I get too old to benefit from it.
why do they have to be self driving tho?
Yeah self-driving at this point doesn't really add much. Just improving driving conditions with bus lanes and better driver support is much more useful as you'd have to have a supervisor on the bus anyway.
GadgetbahnTM
BRT is a very good use case for this, where if rail is too expensive per mile to maintain from ridership you can still have a fast connection with 15 minute headways or better.
It's popular because it's cheap and fast to implement, so much so that latin american cities all over have been having massive success with them despite a limited budget. Unfortunately where I'm at the political fight has gotten so bad that they are cancelling bus lanes with lame duck reasoning such as "the paint is too expensive to maintain" and "we need more lanes for general traffic to sit in traffic in".
After living in Japan for a while it's so hard to go back to countries with no trains. It's so incredibly convenient that I still have dreams of just hopping on a train with google maps in hand to just explore stuff — the best way to experience Japan!
Self driving trains tho. Not all trains do that
Why? The one driver per hundreds of passengers is drop in the bucket and it is better to have a human who can deal with various issues an AI can't.
If trains are completely separated from pedestrians or any other form of transportation, then 100% automation was possible a century ago. As soon as they're not, the problem becomes much, much harder, and is not fully solved yet.
Trains take so long to stop that having a human in charge isn't going to do any good in terms of avoiding pedestrians or any other form of transportation.
However, since you only need one person driving a train that can carry hundreds of passengers it doesn't really make sense to replace them with AI. The small savings of having one less salary to pay is offset by the fact that you no longer have someone to blame when things go wrong.
I mean, both would be great. No need for or reduced insurance, safer roads, and public transportation for the trains side. Would hopefully help transition and adoption over time.
What if everyone had a personal train
which train will take me to my house?
Probably the one running on the line closest to your house.
Imagine a world without the need for a car. There's probably a train station that's in walking distance. Maybe 10-15 minutes. More than that, possibly a quick bus to the corner of your street.
In this world, the grocery store is also a 10-15 minute walk, possibly near the station. Instead of loading up on $200 of groceries once a week, you buy a few pieces on your way to work and/or back home.
There's a nice public park, a library, and even a promenade somewhere also a short walk away. Various retail shops and service centers of all kinds (electronics, home and goods, hardware, appliances) could literally be your downstairs neighbors.
Even if all of these aren't exactly close to you or your train station, they can be a short bus or train ride away. You walk more, bike more. You have a backpack and side racks for the bike. Your health improves, and you interact more with the people of the area.
Welcome to many cities of the world, even in the US.
Sure our cities could be much better but you do realize there are communities in America that can't even provide reliable safe drinking water let alone an entire new infrastructure for their small, low income population? Or already overburdened underfunded system so nothing is working efficiently and just adding more to the docket?
Probably gonna get shit for this but I find the fuck cars people to be as narrow sighted and obnoxious as vegans. I love your vision, I really do. But damn I have a hard time not being exasperated every time I read a post.
Re on groceries, another awesome tool that I like for living car-lite in the south of all places is grocery delivery. For 50 buckaroos a year Walmart will bring your groceries straight to your doorstep, no bullshit required. No driving to the local supermarket, no slow crawling looking for parking, no darting through a sketchy looking parking lot at night, no crowded aisles and dodgy people on motor carts inside, no half hour long line for checkout, no please remove item from the bagging area calling an attendant to give your introverted ass a heart attack from an unwarranted conversation. Literally open the website add items and it just shows up at my door the next day. I also feel I make my money back because I'm not spending on impulse purchases. And I can shop in my underwear if I feel like it!
Sure, now imagine all those things in Germany:
- The train comes every 30 minutes, but oh whoops there's a 30 minute delay that's keeping the other trains behind delayed. So rather than getting home on time for dinner, you eat shit from a vending machine. Oh and we need to prioritize passengers going between the main cities, so the provincial trains will need to wait. Oh, and tomorrow there's a strike. Oh and the fare costs 10€ if you travel more than 5km.
- The bus comes regularly but it meanders between small villages nowhere near your final destination, so takes 30 minutes longer than it should.
Just to be clear, I'm not against trains and I am definitely against cars. But I do think E-bikes are the way forward for any journey less than 100km
T-R-A-M
Trams are smaller trains to get to trains (and elsewhere but mostly trains)
The one with a stop within 3 miles of your house, and a connecting bus that runs through every 15-30 minutes can take you closer. Or if you're like me leave the bike at the station and bike home after.
Mobile phone? ❌
Landline? ✅
Not an exact equivalence, but some similarities.
Edit for clarification:
Cars, and mobile phones, can go anywhere. Trains, and Landline phones have fixed locations only.
One makes very little noise, the other makes so much noise that dogs either shit themselves or attack their neighbors.
I'm not exactly a fan of any of it, whether it be EVs or trains, but it really is a pain to try to comfort a shivering dog that's about ready to shit himself or kill the neighbor's dog when a train passes.
This sounds more like a freight train. Many modern light commuter trains are quieter than an average SUV. The rail line could also have sound barriers installed if noise is still an issue.
Guess you missed the memo, trains legally have to have super loud horns for train/road intersections.
Have you heard a train horn lately? You're probably used to it. Now imagine what a dumb (or even smart) dog thinks when hearing a train horn...
Our dog both damn near shit himself and almost attacked another dog barely am hour ago after he heard a train horn.
