Today the future arrived!

To many ads? Support ODJT and see no ads!
Earlier this year GM invested 500 million USD in Lyft, purchased self-driving technology startup Cruise Automation for more than 1 billion USD and announced in July that GM will build its first self-driving cars for use within the Lyft fleet as self-driving taxi. In May BMW announced that they would have a self-driving car on the market within 5 years. Next came Uber, which acquired autonomous truck startup Otto for 680 Million USD and is now beginning field trials of fully self-driving taxis in Pittsburgh. But the key change at Uber is the way that its CEO Kalanick frames the issue. He makes it clear that Uber’s survival depends on being first (or tied for first) in rolling out a self-driving taxi network.

The latest announcement comes from Ford which plans to provide mobility services with fully autonomous self-driving Fords by 2021. This is a major effort: Ford is doubling its development staff in Silicon Valley, aims to have the largest fleet of self-driving car prototypes by the end of this year and will triple the size of this fleet again next year. It has also purchased 3 companies related to autonomous driving technology and has purchased a stake in Velodyne, the leading manufacturer of LIDARs for autonomous driving.

When businesses get invested, technology changes quick .. whether laws and regulations to allow it do, that will be the question.
 
  • Like
Reactions: ittigger
I'm all for reducing deaths in automobiles. I believe the self driving cars will do that.

I don't think we should have extra people die because we are worried we might lose some jobs.

In the early part of the century, 30% of our work force was in farming. Today, it's under 5 %. Yet unemployment is lower today than it was then. And we have a lot more people. Things change. People change with it.

I still think we are a long way off to make it affordable for this to be a common thing.
 
With the costs of car ownership continuing to rise, the younger millennials will be more inclined to partake in using a service like Uber to go everywhere.

Own a car - $450 car payment, $250 insurance (give or take, but $250 is very likely for full coverage for younger drivers), plus cost of gas every month of $150 or so. About $850 in transportation expenses as a basis, and then if they have to pay to park their car where they go often, then parking expenses add up.

Cost to use Uber to get to work let's say $15 per trip, but likely less. $15 to go to work and come back. That is $30 per day. Then maybe 2 Uber trip a week for shopping, getting groceries etc. ..Market shouldn't be that far, so let's say $20 total. Add in $40 for Uber trips over the weekend on average.

That is $210 per week on average in Uber fare charges x 4. Ends up being $840 per month in Uber fares.

So less bills, and no car maintenance to worry about, and you would end up spending as much or less utilizing Uber as a young adult and not own a car. For someone under age 25 living in the suburbs or City...The Uber plan works out financially better than owning a vehicle. If this particular person needed to go on a trip for vacation or something they could rent a car.
 
With the costs of car ownership continuing to rise, the younger millennials will be more inclined to partake in using a service like Uber to go everywhere.

Own a car - $450 car payment, $250 insurance (give or take, but $250 is very likely for full coverage for younger drivers), plus cost of gas every month of $150 or so. About $850 in transportation expenses as a basis, and then if they have to pay to park their car where they go often, then parking expenses add up.

Cost to use Uber to get to work let's say $15 per trip, but likely less. $15 to go to work and come back. That is $30 per day. Then maybe 2 Uber trip a week for shopping, getting groceries etc. ..Market shouldn't be that far, so let's say $20 total. Add in $40 for Uber trips over the weekend on average.

That is $210 per week on average in Uber fare charges x 4. Ends up being $840 per month in Uber fares.

So less bills, and no car maintenance to worry about, and you would end up spending as much or less utilizing Uber as a young adult and not own a car. For someone under age 25 living in the suburbs or City...The Uber plan works out financially better than owning a vehicle. If this particular person needed to go on a trip for vacation or something they could rent a car.
Maybe in a city, but not the suburbs .. The rates are closer to $100 per month for insurance and $250 per month for a car (my son is 26 and I paid that insurance average since age 16 and the $250 is is current Honda Accord lease). Gas is closer to $100 (1000 miles @ 25mpg and $2.50/gal). He drives about 22 miles to work, so Uber would cost quite a bit. Even at $15 per trip (which would be low for 22 miles one way), that's $600 per month and he's paying $450 for the car .. no parking needed around these parts.
 
Maybe in a city, but not the suburbs .. The rates are closer to $100 per month for insurance and $250 per month for a car (my son is 26 and I paid that insurance average since age 16 and the $250 is is current Honda Accord lease). Gas is closer to $100 (1000 miles @ 25mpg and $2.50/gal). He drives about 22 miles to work, so Uber would cost quite a bit. Even at $15 per trip (which would be low for 22 miles one way), that's $600 per month and he's paying $450 for the car .. no parking needed around these parts.

Yeah Mileage is going to vary. It will depend on the age/model of vehicle. If the person has their own car insurance or under parents. How far they have to travel to and from work.
 
  • Like
Reactions: ittigger
The prices Steve quoted are the same as I've seen with my boy as well. In a major city, DC / NY, I see them using the metro and taxi services preferential to owning.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Jeff Romard
Also consider that once true self driving cars arrive you won't need to pay the driver...so prices should drop some.

A friend lived in the near-burbs, took a bus to /from work, so the car was only for groceries and going out to eat...and the grocery store was 1/2 mile away...car was 5 years old and didn't have 30k miles on it.

Mass transit didn't go to the store, only into the city..so walking was the only option..fine if your 20, not so fun if you're 50.

Renting a car is an option, but you gotta get to the rental place (or maybe enterprise will come pick you up).

But for him Uber would probably make a lot of sense. And maybe if you go out ot eat you meet friends - share the uber ride perhaps. cheaper yet.

I know parking in Pittsburgh is $15/day - maybe a lease would lower that a bit. But that's $300/ month.

Lease's are great for SOME people...I drive too much but i'm out in the rural burbs and use my car for work. Those low lease payments you see are often for 10k miles a year..avg driver does more like 15K...

Full coverage on my subaru is $650 a year..LIABILITY ONLY for my soon to be 16 year old is $800-1000 my insurance man tells me - $800 if we get him a beater car and the higher figure if he's on my car. I can't imagine what full coverage would be for a young male these days.

When I was in DC 2 years ago I walked mostly, but took a taxi..$5 I think. a couple of miles. Cost more to move my car from the hotel garage and feed a meter and return. LOL
 
Maybe in a city, but not the suburbs .. The rates are closer to $100 per month for insurance and $250 per month for a car (my son is 26 and I paid that insurance average since age 16 and the $250 is is current Honda Accord lease). Gas is closer to $100 (1000 miles @ 25mpg and $2.50/gal). He drives about 22 miles to work, so Uber would cost quite a bit. Even at $15 per trip (which would be low for 22 miles one way), that's $600 per month and he's paying $450 for the car .. no parking needed around these parts.
Pretty much the same here although I'm probably more rural than you. I installed Uber on my phone the other day just for giggles to see if I could schedule a pickup and I couldn't -- no drivers in my area. A couple of times I had to to take a taxi to the nearest train station (~20 miles) it's ranged between $45-$60 each way. :eek:
--
I think driverless semis are definitely in the near future so much so that I didn't bother going for my class A license when the oppurtunity presented itself a few months back. I was going for the license just to have a backup. It's always good to have. It's the same reason I have a Class E license (can drive for hire) and don't drive a taxi.

Professional drivers are just that professionals and more than likely gain more experience in a year than you and I will in 5 years but there still hundreds perhaps thousands of semi accidents a year due to errors in judgement or driver fatigue. Take the human out of the equation, you greatly reduce judgement errors, and fatigue becomes a non-issue.
 
Last edited:
Speaking of driverless ... Velodyne .. previously primarily a maker of quality Home Theater subs (I have one) is one of the leading manufacturers of Lidar units (laser based "radar") used for obstacle detection in driverless vehicles. They also make boat stabilization, so that's what you call true diversification.
 
This is all about a company saving money on having to pay somebody to drive. It's just that simple. It's not about more safety doing it this way. The reason why the world is in the trouble it's in is because of greed. The world has become to greedy for it's own good. Personally I will keep driving till I can't drive any more. Not because of the business I'm in alone but I can easily get in my ride and go instead of having to wait on a vehicle to arrive to take me where I want to go. It's parked outside right now and if I had a place to go right now I could get in and go. I have to be in Clark, NJ before 1pm tomorrow and I can get there in a little amount of time. I just wonder how much one of these self driving cars cost. I bet at least 10k more then a car you drive yourself. When will there be flying cars like the Jetsons cartoon?
 
This is all about a company saving money on having to pay somebody to drive. It's just that simple. It's not about more safety doing it this way. The reason why the world is in the trouble it's in is because of greed. The world has become to greedy for it's own good. Personally I will keep driving till I can't drive any more. Not because of the business I'm in alone but I can easily get in my ride and go instead of having to wait on a vehicle to arrive to take me where I want to go. It's parked outside right now and if I had a place to go right now I could get in and go. I have to be in Clark, NJ before 1pm tomorrow and I can get there in a little amount of time. I just wonder how much one of these self driving cars cost. I bet at least 10k more then a car you drive yourself. When will there be flying cars like the Jetsons cartoon?
Initially the companies won't save money. My bet would be it will be similar to solar power it will take years to recoup your investment not to mention turn a profit vs paying a body to sit in the drivers seat. My second bet would be that at the pace technology changes better sensors, chips, and algorithms will make upgrading a vehicle fleet a much more frequent and expensive proposition at least in the short term future (25-50 years). In the short term future there will also be a human behind the wheel of a big rig even if they aren't driving. It's just too much of a risk to send a computer out there with no one to override a blind spot in its' programming.

There are plenty areas that hoomins (sic) are just plain better at one of them being taking fast moving input from multiple sources and making sense of it quickly to make a judgement call. For instance, driving at night on country roads I might see the reflection of an animals eyes. If the reflection is low to the ground I'll slow down but won't slam on the brakes. If it's higher off the ground it's probably a deer, dog, or something else that can do significant damage to my car so I'll come to a near stop as I'm passing. A computer may have a hard time making that decision on the fly and stop dead in the middle of the road like an idiot. Can you imagine the road rage then? :D

High beams are another thing. There have been automatic high beam systems in luxury cars for years. On the older ones it never worked right because it relied on a 'dumb' sensor in the center of the dashboard. I'm sure they've since perfected the technology but people who drive on winding country roads regularly know to keep an eye on the power lines in your peripheral vision for oncoming traffic. You switch off your high beams accordingly so you don't blind the driver on the other side while negotiating a curve. The milliseconds it takes the other guy's pupils to constrict can mean the difference between an accident and smooth driving.
 
you can't see IR...you dont' have night vision...or heat vision..camera's and computers do - so they will excel at night driving!

Cars can, and some do, network - giving reports to eachother on road conditions, traffic conditions (higher end GPS units do this too). Easy for cars to know where other cars are. And who's to say a night-driving car even needs headlights? Just lights so others know it's there. it's gonna have night vision and radar/lidar.

As for saving money...hard to say. I crossed I-70 in ohio last summer, 10pm to 1 am time frame and OMG the number of trucks parked for drivers to sleep was astounding - every rest stop overflowed with them.

When they can self drive from B to C, then short haul drivers can do a-b and c-d you'll see it happen - trucks can move 24/7 that way. HUGE reduction in costs when that $150,000 rig isn't sitting 1/3 to 1/2 it's life cause the hoomin has to rest.

I see the cost trucking companies invest now in GPS and other monitors it's amazing. I'm training to drive a school bus - it has SIX cameras in it, GPS, a short wave (not cb) radio. And they replace the buses every 80k miles...at $90,000 per bus. But it iwll be a long time before school bus drivers are replaced - UNLESS it's driving pods..then maybe sooner.

And there are BILLIONS being spent on the idea...
Everything we know so far about the Project Titan Apple car


Will the Apple car be autonomous?
In August 2015, Apple held an hour-long meeting with the California Department of Motor Vehicles to talk through "autonomous vehicle regulations," according to internal documents obtained by the Guardian. Autonomous vehicle testing will likely take place at GoMentum Station, a 2,100-acre former naval base in San Francisco that Apple has shown interest in using.
 
View attachment 30783

Let's talk to the Tesla driverless test vehicle passenger! OH Wait HE WAS NOT AVAILABLE FOR COMMENT CAUSE HE IS DEAD!

On the average day globally there are 3287 deaths caused by MVAs. That poor sap was one of them what about the other 3286?

When businesses get invested, technology changes quick .. whether laws and regulations to allow it do, that will be the question.

When business gets invested laws change quickly too....At least they do if they have talented people advocating for them
 
  • Like
Reactions: Dan The Man
With the costs of car ownership continuing to rise, the younger millennials will be more inclined to partake in using a service like Uber to go everywhere.

Own a car - $450 car payment, $250 insurance (give or take, but $250 is very likely for full coverage for younger drivers), plus cost of gas every month of $150 or so. About $850 in transportation expenses as a basis, and then if they have to pay to park their car where they go often, then parking expenses add up.

Cost to use Uber to get to work let's say $15 per trip, but likely less. $15 to go to work and come back. That is $30 per day. Then maybe 2 Uber trip a week for shopping, getting groceries etc. ..Market shouldn't be that far, so let's say $20 total. Add in $40 for Uber trips over the weekend on average.

That is $210 per week on average in Uber fare charges x 4. Ends up being $840 per month in Uber fares.

So less bills, and no car maintenance to worry about, and you would end up spending as much or less utilizing Uber as a young adult and not own a car. For someone under age 25 living in the suburbs or City...The Uber plan works out financially better than owning a vehicle. If this particular person needed to go on a trip for vacation or something they could rent a car.

We are pretty rural here compared to Baltimore but my oldest daughter (20 in two days) is paying something like $140/month for insurance. When she was under my policy it was $100 a year liability only. She just bought a 2008 Focus she was able to pay cash for so no payment. Gas is much higher here we are paying close to if not $5/gallon so her gas bill is likely higher. Rarely you will pay for parking here except at the Hospital or the University. Even downtown you can avoid it if you're willing to walk a block or two.

There is no Uber or Lyft servicing this area. There are plenty of taxi's though and the rates are pretty low compared to a lot of areas. Public transportation is not that great here

If I lived in a major city I would have a car but I would take public transit to work just because it's much less hassle than traffic, parking, etc

One thing you didn't mention is maintenance. Over time that can be costly
 
  • Like
Reactions: Dan The Man
Sorry. Convenient or not, I wanna be able to grab the keys and go at any moment. In case of an emergency, I dont wanna be waiting for a car to arrive. Also, how many times have you avoided an accident thanks to natural HUMAN abilities.
 
I fly R/C planes and heli's and such and the 'aids' that have come out in the past say, 3-5 years, have really changed what's possible and made it much easier to fly, especially under challenging conditions.

For $250ish you can get a plane or quad that will recover from just about anything you can get into with a simple flip of a switch and there are many that can land themselves where they took off from - fine for a quad but PLANES TOO!

Imagine what $2,500 in electronics can do if $250 can do that AND includes the plane too!

Sportsman S+ BNF (Gen 2) | HorizonHobby
 
  • Like
Reactions: steve149
I fly R/C planes and heli's and such and the 'aids' that have come out in the past say, 3-5 years, have really changed what's possible and made it much easier to fly, especially under challenging conditions.

For $250ish you can get a plane or quad that will recover from just about anything you can get into with a simple flip of a switch and there are many that can land themselves where they took off from - fine for a quad but PLANES TOO!

Imagine what $2,500 in electronics can do if $250 can do that AND includes the plane too!

Sportsman S+ BNF (Gen 2) | HorizonHobby
hey I have been wanting a decent drone but don't want to spend a ton of money on repairs because of the learning to fly it syndrome, any recommendations
 
Last edited:
Sorry. Convenient or not, I wanna be able to grab the keys and go at any moment. In case of an emergency, I dont wanna be waiting for a car to arrive. Also, how many times have you avoided an accident thanks to natural HUMAN abilities.


Yes, humans can and do avoid accidents. They also can and do cause them. Impaired, inexperienced, elderly, distracted, and angry drivers cause accidents every day. A lot of them.
 
I fly R/C planes and heli's and such and the 'aids' that have come out in the past say, 3-5 years, have really changed what's possible and made it much easier to fly, especially under challenging conditions.

For $250ish you can get a plane or quad that will recover from just about anything you can get into with a simple flip of a switch and there are many that can land themselves where they took off from - fine for a quad but PLANES TOO!

Imagine what $2,500 in electronics can do if $250 can do that AND includes the plane too!

Sportsman S+ BNF (Gen 2) | HorizonHobby

Agreed - however the airplanes electronics do fail as well. Look at how many quad crashes there have been.
 
Last edited: