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Comment by 3asdf123 | Hacker News Reader

I now come to realize that if you don't want to drive it's better to have public transport. For the real fun part of owning a personal vehicle: sport car, road-trip... I doubt you would want a robot to take over.

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You can already experience self driving cars by taking an Uber or a taxi, or being chauffeured if you are richer. None of that is new, the self driving aspect just promises to make those experiences perhaps more accessible (or at the very least, not less accessible than they are now). For example, I took a taxi to and from work every day when I lived in Beijing, which came to about 100 kuai/day for a 20-30 minute drive each way, which is affordable to a lot of people (although only possible due to cheap labor). I wouldn’t mind being driven to work here in the states, although it isn’t really economically feasible (and perhaps should be replaced with direct public transit if that was time competitive, which it isn’t, but could be).

Yeah which I think the only remaining good application of self-driving car ( taxi ) doesn't bring that much convenient, since taxi here is already somewhat reasonably priced. I can't speak for the the US experience.

Also the article touches briefly on drivers going into jobless. A lot of drivers where i'm from seems to be retiring middle-old age working in taxi. I think it's a good job fit for them and I don't know how the new self-driving industry can provide the same thing (?)

A significant portion of taxi fares go to the driver, as opposed to the maintenance of cars. There are other marginal benefits such as making the driver's seat available, eliminating the driver's commute and as well as the risk of criminal driver behaviour, that probably offsets some of the drawbacks of having one fewer human being dealing with rare, complex non-driving situations such as a pregnant woman having to give birth in the car.

The economic benefit is significant to companies building self-driving cars, good enough to pursue if the tech is within reach. But to your point it's indeed much less of an improvement compared to various historical automation technologies that create >10x incremental efficiency gains.

Labor is becoming more expensive, even in the developed world. Eventually, people will want to do more productive things that drive a taxi for a little bit of money.

There is an argument for traffic optimization that will be possible when self driving taxis are common, but this is more of an argument also for the developing world where traffic is a much larger problem than the developed world (e.g. LA traffic is nothing compared to Beijing traffic).

I just look forward to a lifestyle in the states compared to the one I had back when I was living in China.

I don't really like driving per se, but public transport, regardless of its sophistication (for example, as seen in Tokyo), has its challenges, particularly when it comes to grocery shopping. Transporting a large quantity of goods can be impractical, if not impossible, without a car. Even carrying a moderate amount can be exhausting due to the 'last 100 meter' issue, which persists even if one lives close to a metro station, say within a five-minute walk.

Moreover, public transport often isn't as comfortable as your own vehicle (which I understand is a luxury).

Conversely, when it comes to driving in a large city, finding a parking spot can often be a major hassle.

I see, but then you don't need large quantity shopping at all when the supermarket is just a 5 minute walk away. I live in Tokyo, usually buy at most 3-4 days of food with a 30 minutes detour when I get off the station from work.

From what I've seen, the main reason why people want a car here seems to be wanting to travel with small children. Moving within Tokyo with car is not very convenient.

That's very good point :) Your lifestyle adapts to your environment, indeed.

> particularly when it comes to grocery shopping. Transporting a large quantity of goods can be impractical, if not impossible, without a car. Even carrying a moderate amount can be exhausting due to the 'last 100 meter' issue, which persists even if one lives close to a metro station, say within a five-minute walk.

For a five-minute walk (or even a longer ten-minute or fifteen-minute walk), pulling a small cart is not exhausting at all. I do it every week when buying food: I choose one of the several supermarkets in one of the nearby blocks, walk to it pulling my empty cart, after paying for the goods I put everything into the cart, and walk back home pulling the full cart. No public transport needed, though I've seen people carrying these carts into public transport too (this is easier when it's a low-floor bus, instead of the high-floor ones).

You can also get things delivered when it's a larger amount than can fit on your cart: while paying at the supermarket you ask for delivery, and they'll use a cargo tricycle to bring it to your building.

> pulling a small cart

Ah, that's what I'm missing. Thanks for sharing your experience.

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