Monday, August 3, 2009

Taxi without drivers

About half of the cost of taxi fares goes to pay the taxi driver for his service. If an automated taxi, without a driver, becomes into operational, it may be possible to reduce the cost of taxi fare to half of the current level.

You get the convenience of private transport, at a much lower price. This may be possible soon, and can make a radical impovement to the transport system.

7 comments:

  1. Seriously?

    Are there any examples of a vehicle being drove on the streets without a driver?

    To save costs, these taxi drivers should stop driving around looking for passengers. That will save fuel cost. Every booking can be made via the internet or phone. It should save a lot of money, and people can always get a cab at a time they specify.

    ReplyDelete
  2. A taxi without driver?

    Are you out of your mind?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Rather than give insults without thinking, the poster (4:58 pm) should open his or her eyes and mind and read other postings about driverless cars that are being developed in other countries.

    ReplyDelete
  4. It sounds good to have a driverless taxi, with all the eletronic facilities that the current era can offer.
    But try telling this piece of 'good news' to the taxi drivers and their families who depend on them.
    We are restructuring, to the extend that machines replace men, in the split second where these men cannot fit in to the pace of those times. I understand the goodwill where times change and we cannot stop change when it happens. However, we may need to stop and think about: why do some people say that the current older generation folks are out of jobs, and out of touch? Is it because they cannot catch up? Or is it simply because change happens to fast, that their minds and bodies cannot adhere to it.
    Not every one is Lee Kuan Yew, or Tan Kin Lian, who are very active in their thoughts and senses, even when they move on towards seniority. The average people may not learn as fast.
    Furthermore, it is of my view that most taxi drivers are in their 50-60s, who have little education and capacity to absorb new training imposed to them. One may like to differ much, but most of the time, as a person gets older, he is slower and may be more stubborn too.
    A driverless taxi? Hmm... Taxi drivers will be wiped out, but new jobs may be available through the ease of traffic (economy is improved through ease of traffic). This is something that we may need to weigh.

    ReplyDelete
  5. The driverless taxis are to provide local transport. This market is under-served currently. The taxi drivers can provide the long distance transport, which gives better earnings, or work as train or bus drivers (instead of relying on foreign workers).

    ReplyDelete
  6. Depending on how you define as "soon", a driverless car system will not be here soon enough (<10 years). It still requires comprehensive research and large investment in infrastructure.

    ReplyDelete
  7. how about no ministers?

    ReplyDelete

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.