This might be a naive question, but are driverless lanes being considered? For instance we have bike lanes all over the US. It might make sense to make a similar investment for AI-friendly lanes to help transition to driverless transportation.
There are plenty of options that negate this as a concern (actually it's not even a concern), especially when the alternative is big government autonomous vehicle welfare shoving ads up your ass and nickel-and-diming every move you make to participate in society.
Want to protest something? Sorry the government shut down your ride. Whoops you were mistaken for a terrorist - straight to jail! Did you forget to pay your Waymo bill? Guess you're stuck at home until you get the funds to pay it. Heading to the airport? Sorry sir you can't exit the car while the car is in motion, 40 minutes ETA until you arrive at your destination. But I can walk, it's right there! Sorry sir for your safety and those around you please enjoy this new Netflix special while you wait. You can purchase this bottle of condensed milk for $7.99 and it'll automatically be deducted from your paycheck.
Car-only infrastructure isn't just a really stupid and expensive way of doing things, it also keeps you under control.
That idea doesn't make sense. Where would the space for the dedicated lanes come from, especially on city streets (like the one in the OP)? The existing traffic could use those lanes more effectively, and it would be wrong to waste it because driverless cars suck and their developers are insistently shoving them out the door despite that.
I don't mean doing this today. I'm talking about a future where most vehicles have a driverless capability. The reason why it would be useful is that a lane of automated cars would be safer and more efficient. But the reality we have right now is that driverless cars are intermixed with human-driven cars, which will always be a danger.
Bike lanes make sense because bikes can't go as fast as cars and are unprotected in the event of a collision. Bus lanes make sense because buses have dedicated predictable routes, and efficient bus lanes increase the number of people that can get around.
Also, isn't Musk setting up Hyperloop, or was that another publicity stunt?
Re. Hyperloop: some have said it was a stunt to attack public support for CA high speed rail (which would reduce CA's dependency on cars): https://twitter.com/parismarx/status/1571628269555826688?lan...
EDIT: Re-reading your comment, I realize that you're challenging GP's assertion that we already have bike lanes everywhere, which I agree is obviously false.
For reference, two of the cities metioned are Austin with ~2500 miles of roads and Denver with 1900 miles.
It's a start. But that's all it is.
The other half is the stuff you can't do, like carry large items or eat on the train. Just got some large boards for a DIY project and stopped by in-N-out. ~10 minutes there and back. Would have taken an hour w/PT, couldn't carry materials and couldn't stop for food. With a driver-less car, I could still do that.
I'm not suggesting any money go towards paying for driver-less lanes atm though. Still feels way too early for that.
If it took you ~10 minutes to get to the store, it's probably ~2 miles by car. Maybe a bit further. That's easily done on a bicycle (not for large boards, but easily doable for moderate grocery runs or other regular errands). Or, a bus/tram - might take a few minutes more waiting for it to arrive at each end, but still not an hour (if it runs regularly enough, which it obviously doesn't).
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but its closer to 7. Speed limit is 70 mph for most of the drive, haha.
Even if it was 2 miles, that's gonna be close to 30 min each way, an hour spent just on commuting for groceries. I don't think I could justify it tbh, and I like biking enough. I'm usually just carrying stuff though, if I'm leaving the house to go shopping.
If it was going to/from the exact place, perhaps. It's just so convenient to grab the keys and not have to worry about schedules or arranging how you'll carry everything back.
Perhaps if I lived in a city and it was my only choice though.
How do other countries solve this? Is it just an off-hours thing, or a problem mid-day?
The problem is nobody does anything because nobody else cares enough, tbh.
Nobody cares enough to call the police because they know the police won't do anything. The police won't do anything because they'll arrest people and those people will be let out a few days later with no punishment. Why? Ask the elite representatives in DC I guess. They probably just don't care to solve it or don't want to solve it. There was a dude who vandalized a store and stole some stuff in DC, got arrested, let out 2 weeks later and literally 2 days after being released did the same exact thing.
I've unfortunately seen creeps doing awful things in front of innocent people too and its one of those things that nobody will spend time tracking down I guess.
Because driverless cars are safer, faster and more efficient.
Good public transit is WAY safer and more efficient than cars of any sort. It could be faster, too, if we prioritized it over cars like much of Europe has.
Beg your pardon? How is 2.5 tons of steel to carry a handful of people more efficient than a tram?
Public trans? I already said I'd support that, but it's not on the menu is it.