Oddbean new post about | logout
 why do they jump forward to self driving cars and trucks when it could obviously be used more effectively with trains? 
 Idk at least I use cruse control on my 04 accord and get 38 mpg. Sucker has 216000 miles on it and going strong because of it. Going for 500 🤘🏼 
 cruise control is just a speed regulator it's a million times less complicated than a thing that keeps you in a lane and stops when things cross your path, i can write algorithms for this kind of power control, bitcoin has one and i made a more fancy one, and then a couple years ago someone pointed out that they are like a Proportional Integral Derivative controller used in physics experiments for various kinds of force and power regulation. 
 I guess I’m speaking more about the “efficiency” aspect when it comes to people driving their cars. Too many go into high rpm’s and back down again which wear out the engine sooner. That’s all 
 Because they want to sell some cartoon fantasy that was trained into them as kids decades ago, and also to sell more technology to send, pick up, relay etcetera all of the signals needed to operate such technological wonder. 
 People do not want to be inconvenienced in any way. Also, sex privately in public while something else is driving seems like a pretty fun idea. Did you know that pretty much all new technology has the sexual applications explored first? 
 they still need someone on board

i was more thinking of light rail anyway... i hate buses, and trams have all but vanished from so many cities even though they are awesome... automatic ones would be the best urban transport IMO

and small scale intercity transport... that's another thing that has disappeared or gotten extremely absurdly expensive in the last couple decades

i like the pace of rail transport... and the straighter paths, and teh lack of up and down bumping