@KevinMarks@balsoft In Tucson, where I lived and drove most of my adult life, timed traffic signals are useless, because people are too stupid to understand how they work. All it takes is one person rushing to be first in line at the next red light to gum up the works.
@Cevilia That's why I said varying sizes of vehicles. The app would just be to enter your destination and pay, assuming there wasn't a universal charge or tax for usage. You don't want them to stop everywhere, just where they are needed.
@umbrella "good public transit does exactly this, except more efficiently." Not really, if it is al on one electric grid. Think of it as one giant train with the cars broken up and separated.
@HiddenLayer555 In NYC, my example, how many more train lines do you suppose you would need? Above ground? Underground? Are you going to lay track on every street? underground? Are you sure this would be more efficient than a network of smaller vehicles? There is no need for everyone to sit in their own car if it is all electric and automated. A single person vehicle, if if even existed, could be much smaller.
@yogthos How about a city like NYC that bans human driven vehicles altogether and has a network of autonomous vehicles of varying sizes constantly available on the street for both cargo and passenger travel. You need to get from brooklyn to an address in midtown? You call up a ride on your phone. One immediately drops out of traffic, picks you up, and takes you where you need to go. No human behavior caused traffic jams or accidents. For less specific destinations, bus or van sized vehicles.
@KevinMarks @balsoft In Tucson, where I lived and drove most of my adult life, timed traffic signals are useless, because people are too stupid to understand how they work. All it takes is one person rushing to be first in line at the next red light to gum up the works.