[breathen]

> This (driverless tech) is amazing for what it can do to help people that are old/poor and live in places with no public transport

The ability to type this on an investment forum with a straight face indicates you have a bright future in our industry

[beAbU]

Just in case its not clear why the quoted statement is so ridiculous:

What makes Waymo a more suitable solution to lack of public transport, than actual public transport?

[al_borland]

Not the person who said it, and I’m in favor of rails, bike paths, etc being the basis of any multifaceted transit system.

That being said, augmenting a public transit system with something like self-driving cars would be good for older people, or anyone with limited mobility, who may not be able to handle the amount of walking required with most public transit options.

I don’t think I’d include the poor in the list of people who would benefit, as I would expect a dedicated car driving for doorstep to doorstep would be more expensive than a train or bus which has scheduled stops.

I live in an area with poor public transit, and my parents both live in areas with no public transit options at all. They are 70 now and eventually they will get to the point where they can no longer drive safely. Having a way to get around would allow them to maintain their freedom and independence. Without that, giving up their license will mean depending on family or friends to do anything that requires leaving the house. Uber would be an option for my dad, but unlikely for my mom as she lives in a more rural area, and I’d imagine it would get expensive. I did just look up options for my mom if she has to give up her car. There is a service available from the county that runs from 7am - 3:30pm, Mon - Sat. If she wants/needs to go anywhere in the evening or on Sunday, she’d be out of luck. They also require 3 days notice to pick someone up for a doctor’s appointment, and an hour+ for anything else.

While writing this I also remembered a guy I used to work with who had seizures, so he couldn’t drive. He took the bus to work and it would take him about 2 hours. Since it was a night shift job and the buses didn’t run late, he also ended up getting to work extremely early and then just had to wait for his shift to start. Co-workers often gave him a ride home after learning about all this, as it was less than 20 minutes by car. Having some faster and more direct options would be nice for areas with horribly slow bus services, or with limited hours.

Maybe the transit providers could use the car data to inform them on future transit routes that should be built. That way we can reduce the number of cars that need to be on the road over time, and do it in a way that makes the biggest impact.