We need a wider spectrum to explore the yellow brick road of self driving

https://www.engadget.com/2019/05/11/hitting-the-books-autonomous-cars-robot-take-the-wheel/

THE FUTURE OF MOBILITY/TRANSPORTATION  WILL REQUIRE  A WIDER SPECTRUM OF THINKING

This entry starts with a link about  attitudes  folks take toward their  cars and other  conceptual models of transportation.  This blog has  touched on the  ideas below before, however, sometimes  repetition is helpful and timing is important.

As  the Munchkins advise Dorothy when she asks where to start—Let’s start  at the beginning and follow the yellow brick road or just sit in the car that will follow the road for you.  

What is your car?  Is it  your mobile office?  Is it a cargo  holder for  all types of things  that don’t fit in your  house?  Is your truck  your  sporting goods storage space or  your lawn equipment  hauler?  If so that is going to influence how you view certain concepts that may  emerge in the new transportation marketplace.

You are not going to want to buy a  subscription to a ride service if you  are using your car as a home away from home  while on business trips?  You may  not want  your business partners to  see that  your prmary diet is  McDonalds McNuggets, coffee and M&Ms.  Some people have never  been in a car pool or  gone to work with  six other people no matter what the economics of that would be.  

In the self-driving world some of these notions  need to be explored more  fully so that the  design and  development  of self-driving  infrastructure can be carried  out in an effective manner.  Instead of  asking people whether they trust  self-driving cars maybe some other questions should be asked.  Like would you consider  an automated vehicle if it costs only 20 per cent of your current transportation  budget?  By only asking  “do  you trust” many pollsters  are in effect asking  the “have you stopped  beating  your wife” style of question.  They are raising the stature of “trust” as the primary factor in all transportation matters.  

Over thinnest few posts.  Some other questions that illustrate  the spectrum  of future mobility  options and  suggest when  comparisons  to today are helpful and when they  may not.

For now please give this a thought… did the family  of 9 have the same  car as the wealthy  playboy in 1965?  Did those two owners  approach transportation the same?  I’m suggesting  we widen the spectrum even further and  over the next week  we’ll be off to see the wizard  to see what answers might be out there.