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Comment by SMrF | Hacker News Reader

"Anyway, I rather hope I'm wrong. I'd really like to drink my coffee and read during my commute as my car drives me to work."

I was struck by this comment, because I do this every day...by riding the train. Automated cars, flying cars, double-decker highways, etc. are fantastic innovations, but I sometimes wonder if we couldn't do better than the car, at least in terms of our regular commuting. I ride my bike and take the train because I have that option where I live and I love it.

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OK, forget my dumb last comment... So imagine... cars are automated, and possibly pooled. Bus is the most energy efficient way of transport. So you want to go from A to B. Instead of looking up static train/bus schedules, you just type that into your phone. A server system looks at how many people wants to do a similar trip, and automatically starts an automated taxi that would have just the needed size and will come up 10/15 min later. That way you get the best of both worlds. And if that's not enough space privacy for some, you could just plug mini-cars together, eliminating air resistance but with everyone having its close module transport. Even better, you could switch module transports between road trains. The possibilities are unthinkable. I think this marks the beginning of a new ear in transport.

Very simple. It takes me 30 min to drive to work in my car and 1 hour in the good case with the train. The train can take up to 2 hours overall in the worst case. And this is partly time to switch train, going to the train station etc. Not much time you can use to read or take breakfast quietly.

I commute via bike in good weather and train in bad weather, but that option isn't available for many people, nor for many potential trips. The problem with trains is that the whole train goes on one route, so if you want to go elsewhere, you need to change trains, and have all the extra hassle and delay of switching trains and waiting for another train (and of course, there are many places that aren't served by subways, or are served only by commuter trains that come only once an hour).

In a car, you can choose your own route, which makes a lot more routes feasible to do in a reasonable amount of time. Plus, in an automated car, you can spend your entire trip reading and drinking coffee, instead of having the walk to and from the train, trying to juggle your coffee and umbrella and laptop all while trying to hurry to catch the train.

Problem is, while a robot car for every person is far from the optimal solution, there's a very large gap between the current public transit technology and the required technology to allow public transit to approach or match the advantages of a personal car.

http://www.ruf.dk/ - I heard about this invention years ago and apparently they are still working on it.. Don't know if I believe in it but it is an interesting concept.

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