Tag Archives: self-driving cars

Iain Roberts

How computer-driven cars are likely to transform planning in your town

By Iain Roberts | Mon 5th September 2016 - 3:31 pm

 

It’s 2026 and you’re heading to your local town with the family. Not owning a car, you tap your phone and within a few minutes a self-driving taxi pulls up. You relax in comfort as it drives to your destination, then drops you off by the shops and heads off for its next fare.

Your neighbour is heading to the shops too. She prefers to own and drive her own car. Having got to her destination, she taps a button and her car drives itself off to park in in out-of-town car park, where it waits for her to call it back to meet her.

The technology to do all of this not only exists today, but is in use on public roads. Uber has been testing self-drive taxis on the streets of Pittsburgh for months and Tesla and Google have self-drive cars on the roads. Right now a driver has to sit at the wheel, ready to take over if something goes wrong. That won’t be the case for long. Tech giants like Google, Apple and Uber along with traditional car makers like Ford are investing billions to bring genuine self-drive cars to our roads.

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged and | 10 Comments
Advert

Recent Comments

  • Tim Rogers
    Xi has a poker face that is hard to read. He always looks slightly bored and wishing he was somewhere else. But like Putin I don't expect very much from the sum...
  • Kevin Hawkins
    Here is my usual monthly summary of the last fifty local by-elections. Percentage Vote Share: Reform 25.00%, Labour 20.58%, Conservatives 19.48%, Liberal ...
  • David Blake
    Interesting Town Council result from Chesham, where the Liberal Democrats won every seat at the last elections. One Liberal Democrat councillor for Vale ward b...
  • Christopher Burden
    All this is very interesting. I have dipped in, remotely, but found it rather boring. Now I know why....
  • Graham Evans
    Adam is right. These international comparisons need treating with great care. This is exemplified by the debate regarding the standards of living in North Irela...