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Subway Google Cars

Replace NYC subway with Google driverless cars
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Imagine instead of 10 cars in train, each car is independent of each other. Each car is able to navigate through the tunnel network on its own. Trains is 100+ year old technology that needs to be scraped and rethought. NYC subway tunnels is a controlled environment that would be perfect for Google-like driverless electric cars. Benefits: 1. Late night instead of trains coming every 30 minutes, it can come every 3 minutes instead, or even on demand. 2. Groups of people can be grouped together depending on their destination, allowing to skip stops that are not needed. 3. On longer trips cars can reach speed of 100mph, and get you from outskirts of NYC to midtown in 10 minutes instead of an hour, making driving to the city in a car painfully slow and inconvenient. 4. A sick passenger or broken train only affects one car instead of the whole subway line. 5. Properly scheduled, and grouped, the cars themselves can make connections on their own eliminating transfers. 6. Collosal savings can get from eliminating the maintenance of switches, rails. 7. More resilient to damage from Hurricanes like Sandy, power outage in one part of the city would not affect the service. 8. Many more
romanmar, Dec 28 2012

ULTra http://en.wikipedia...%28rapid_transit%29
[mitxela, Dec 28 2012]

Docklands Light Rail http://en.wikipedia...lands_Light_Railway
[bs0u0155, Dec 28 2012]

Metro Mover http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metromover
[bs0u0155, Dec 28 2012]


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Annotation:







       Automated trains are baked <link>. So this could have happened years ago. However, at the merest sniff of something like this, the Unions revolt.   

       Like flying cars, this is impossible because of admin and politics not tech.   

       They can't even automate highway toll booths without inciting unrest... the word 'jobs' is political dynamite.
bs0u0155, Dec 28 2012
  

       //But that socialist, of course.//   

       Yeah, he's a right pain in the arse.
ytk, Dec 29 2012
  

       //The best solution is scrap all the cars and just use trains/trams/whatever//   

       The best solution is simply not to travel. Improving public transportation is fighting the last war. It's planning to move people that either won't need to be moved because they can work from home, or won't need to be moved because their jobs are no longer there.
theircompetitor, Dec 29 2012
  

       //Collosal savings can get from eliminating the maintenance of switches, rails//   

       First off, is English a second language or were you under the influence when you posted this idea?   

       About the quote I picked out, without switches on the tracks how to you purpose your trains, ah, switch tracks? Do they jump? Do they have tires that drive to the next track? You really need switches, and as long as they are being used they require maintence.
evilpenguin, Dec 29 2012
  

       Sorry for the spelling errors, I wanted to finish it before my train arrived:)   

       Rails: Why do you need tracks at all? Remove all tracks, now you can utilize the opposite direction lane for passing.   

       Power outage: Most cars would have battery technology, so if part of the city has the power out it can carry you another 20 miles where it would charge.   

       People need to meet face to face: You can't eliminate travel.   

       Switches are not needed! Ask yourself, if google cars have switches? No they do not!
romanmar, Dec 30 2012
  

       you tell em romanmar. I think the idea is great. Also the cars can detach and be driven manually the rest of the way home. Or alternatively your personal vehicle can just join the gang in the tunnel on auto pilot while you get some extra rest on the way to work.
Brian the Painter, Dec 31 2012
  


 

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