Do you care about robo taxis?

Question

Would you take one? Why do you care vs having a person drive you?

I'm trying to figure out... why does anyone really care about robots driving cars. Are we that lazy and dangerous? Frankly, I'd be concerned about the mess the last customer left in a car given there is no person there to monitor them.

Anonymous · Accepted Answer

I posted a question about ZOOX. Which is another company creating a robotaxi. And here's my take on it.

My mother is in her 80's and getting to the point where she probably shouldn't be driving. Unfortunately driving is pretty much a necessity in America. And unless you live in an urban environment mass transit is limited if even an option. This is where robo taxi's would be invaluable. Because seniors still need to get around. They still have dr.'s apps etc.

Problem is with fixed incomes. Many elderly people are priced out of Uber's and robo taxi's are still too costly. From what I understand Zoox works on a subscription. And from what I understand they expect the price to fall to eventually to 25 dollars a month or so as they expand and it becomes more cost effective. So your elderly loved ones could pay a flat fee and use it as much or as little as they need to. And the design makes it easy to get in and get out of. It's like thier own personal carriage.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/3r7PEl0tMSk

RavVid · Accepted Answer

I think this is a great leap forward in public transport. With public transport the last 5 miles is the killer.

My work office shifted to out in the burbs. There were three train lines that could get me to 5 miles of the office. Usually got a train within a couple of mins because of the three lines and the journey was quick - about 20 mins. the last 5 miles had to by bus. Was at least 30 mins.

With lots of robo taxis not having to support a human's need for beer. It has great capacity to make public transport far more viable.

The best public transport system I have seen was in Vanuatu. Bongo vans constantly circulating. You hopped told the driver were you were going and he would drop you at the door. With robo taxis/mini buses we could have something as good as Vanuatu and finally catch up.

wynning · Accepted Answer

There are lots of fair reasons why there are people who are against it but I think, if I'm just being idealistic, the cost (for the riders) to benefit ratio could be decent if the robos drive with a... caution-first? approach.
Granted, I might be looking at it through rose coloured glasses because the more I learned and still learn about about how it works, the more I came to appreciate how much effort and thought goes into it with every iteration and improvement. It has its own unique challenges.

FreyaRed · Accepted Answer

Remembers me as I wanted to release parking brake in an Audi Q8 and I did it too fast after putting the key in start slot. You have to wait at least 5 seconds and than at least 5 second to push the start button. I'm sure if someone tries to get in your car, 10 seconds is a lot of time. Software made by stupid people behaves stupidly.

goaded · Answer

Why would anyone trust autonomous cars in a country that doesn't even require their trains to carry decades-old braking technology?

I was thinking how cool it would be for small, independent vehicles, like Smart cars that could join together into convoys and split off near their destination. The last car would break at the instant the first did, to avoid pile-ups. Then I thought of East Palestine and the fact that it probably wouldn't have happened if there had been the kind of regulations that required even late-20th century solutions.

MisterWack · Answer

It will replace human jobs and I believe human life is more valuable than any robot or machine so, I advocate against this.

I have seen driverless truck companies wanting to replace good American truckers’ jobs with driverless operations.

I believe instead of acting like “you are irreplaceable”, you start standing up in solidarity and uniting with your fellow blue collar workers because if you don’t stand up now, you may regret it when they come for your job next.

Lliam · Answer

I wouldn't ride in one.
I hate AI anything. And I don't trust it. I want to be able to interact with a human being. I want to be able to thank someone and reward them for doing a good job, or report them if they are a complete ass hole.
Plus, I don't want to put taxi drivers out of work. I want people to have job opportunities and not be replaced by fucking robots.

I'm not even sure if I would trust my safety to a driverless car.

DangerouslyCute · Answer

I will wait for the proper legislation first and then for the statistics about accidents and other events AI needs an iterative process of enhancing data and conclusions so... I would wait :D

Genie23 · Answer

I wouldn't sit in one. 😧 Nuh uh! No one could make me go in that thing that could end up malfunctioning, experiencing software glitches or it could be hijacked... etc. I don't want to die in an accident.

Syntosi · Answer

Yes, we are that lazy and dangerous. Statistically speaking humans are terrible drivers. As for things such as keeping clean or whatnot, that is a service issue that can be resolved.

That said, Elon Musk has not shown himself to be particularly trustworthy in the development of automated driving and "robotaxi" so he is definitely the wrong guy for the job.

purplepoppy · Answer

My concern is these things will be programed to drive ultra cautiously to avoid accidents. They'll move at well under the speedlight, brake more than they need too, and look for a far bigger gap at junctions than normal.

These things are just going to hold up traffic worse than a short sighted 80 year old learner driver.

alli-112 · Answer

Dislike Musk so I wouldn't use the product on principle, but otherwise I'm vaguely ambivalent. Technology will advance whether we like it or not, but I probably still be driving myself, especially since it's currently way safer.

AviatorTom · Answer

Good point about the potential mess. I personally prefer a taxi with a human driver.

andreasderjuengere · Answer

When it's one of Muck's Tesla's, then I would not trust them to deliver what was promised. I'd rather walk through an empty tunnel in Vegas.

Filthy_Immigrant · Answer

yeah, I can't wait to take one and not paid it so if it insist I can say  "sue me dickhead!"

NathanDavis · Answer

have they mentioned any rate or price for those rides...

Babygirl_S · Answer

They should learn to be decent humans before developing robots.

Anonymous · Answer

not interested. robots can go f*ck themselves!

DrPepper12 · Answer

It's all good. Behave or get banned. I'd do it

Gwendoline · Answer

No I don't trust them.

Anonymous · Answer

Christine showed us why self driving cars are terrifying

Snakeyes7 · Answer

The taxi mafias would not like it and I will laugh and say FAFO.

exitseven · Answer

I will wait a little while on this one.

Anonymous · Answer

Not really, I rarely use taxi.

MannMitAntworten · Answer

Everything is in walking distance where I live.

ambitious_male · Answer

I do invest in it.

Do you care about robo taxis?

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