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Comment by Kaze404 | Hacker News Reader

The reason why I'm against self driving cars is simply the fact that they're cars at all. I sincerely have no idea why we are collectively spending so much time and resources to avoid the solution we've had for years: public transportation. I would much rather live in a world where I have to deal with the minor inconvenience that is waiting 20 minutes for a train to arrive but get to my destination cheaply and easily than all the insane beaurocracy and overhead that comes with cars existing at all.

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> I would much rather live in a world where I have to deal with the minor inconvenience that is waiting 20 minutes for a train to arrive but get to my destination cheaply and easily

You can already live in such a world

I'm much happier to put up with the expense, bureaucracy, and overhead of owning a car than I would be if every trip, every day of my life took 20 minutes longer (and for a lot of places I go, 20 minutes is an underestimate). If you'd choose the opposite, that's fine, but don't do things like banning cars that would restrict my choice. That's just as unfair as banning public transit would be.

We're in agreement then. My ideal world is one where we have cities designed for public transportation (including walking), which would eliminate or at the very least reduce the current problems those methods of transportation currently have for everyone, while the current system provides somewhat efficient transportation but only for those who can afford it. I think spending money and human resources into improving cars instead of public transportation just exacerbates that problem, so it just frustrates me on a personal level to see that this is the direction we're headed to.

Self driving cars could be the public transportation of the future. Like taxis with the fraction of the price. It would be something that would dramatically reduce the need for private cars in sparsely populated areas, and even reduce the need for short and medium length flights.

I love public transportation, but the possibility of low cost taxis is very exciting.

If you like public transportation, then I’m delighted. I hate it and don’t want it forced on me. I think that ultimately autonomous cars are likely to replace much of public transportation, or at least be a large part of such a system.

The problem is we're currently living in the opposite situation, one which is so normalized most people don't even realize it. We have entire cities built around and for cars instead of people, with public transportation treated as an afterthought and just walking to places not even considered as a possibility. I wouldn't want to force public transportation on people either, but pretending the alternative of forcing cars on everyone else is better, desirable or not current isn't productive.

If you cannot understand the position of your opponent, what hope do you have of a productive debate where we end up with a better outcome?

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