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Jimmy Strobl

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*RENAMED* AutonomousTraffic - For a Cleaner, Greener World!

If we combine Shai Agassi's idea with Sebastian Thurn's.

We could get completely clean/green cars, that are always on the road instead of (key) standing still 23/24 of the time, that are cheaper to use then having your own car, long and short term.
We would at the same time eliminate a need for parking in cities.
We would also eliminate drunk driving.
And more and more and more!

You could order a car with your phone, on the net or go to a designated parking place. And still arrive faster then you would today, not to mention that you get your time back!

It only needs one successful city to spread!



EDIT: I've just created my first website, It's an attempt to further develop and promote this idea, please visit: http://autonomoustraffic.webs.com/

Related Talks:
Topics: Future Cities Green Tech alternative energy artificial intelligence better world design future future cars solving problems
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  • Skylar Nitesh

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    Aug 8 2011: Overall I think it is a good idea however I don't like the need for infrastructure as with the electric car model presented by Shai as an endgame because it requires too much land and materials not to mention will cost per mile just like with gas. If the cars are to be truly autonomous they should also be able to produce their own power getting rid of the need for infrastructure and any further waste of land and materials as well as reoccurring cost other than perhaps maintenance of coarse. Between friction from breaking, thermoelectric potential (from engine, road, body heat, sun ect.), suspended load or kinetic style electricity generated from bumps, passengers and other movement, scalable wind turbines which would not impede but maybe even enhance aerodynamics, and of course solar there is absolutely no reason cars of the future shouldn't be able to run indefinitely without the need of externally generated power at fixed points. Why couldn't the seats be turned inward and an adjustable table placed in the middle to create a surface for sharing and working. The table and the chairs could be designed in such a way as to turn the passengers themselves into an energy source.

    Could you be the missing key to solving the energy crisis?
    http://www.ted.com/conversations/4896/could_you_be_the_missing_key_t.html
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    Jimmy Strobl 30+

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    TED Translator
    Jul 30 2011: Right now I'm looking for an animator or something of the sort to put this idea into video format so that it may be easily and effectively shared, If you know of any that would like this idea please share a link to this conversation.
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    Jimmy Strobl 30+

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    TED Translator
    Jul 20 2011: Come on people! I'd really like some (constructive) input on this conversation!

    Please help develop this idea by sharing your thoughts on it!

    Thank you!
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    Jimmy Strobl 30+

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    TED Translator
    Jul 16 2011: So, here's my first attempt at a website... http://autonomoustraffic.webs.com/
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    Larisa Larionova 200+

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    TED TranslatorAssociateLanguage Coordinator
    Jul 13 2011: Yes, I've watched his talk, and I've read the comments. And reading those comments I realized how many people are against such cars. That is why I don't see them among usual cars yet. Yes you can just sit inside and pretend you drive it, but then the whole point of autopilot is lost, you can't do anything else, like reading, eating, having a meeting and so on. I also believe that in a traffic with usual cars we will not receive any gain in pace. As usual cars will not communicate and behave in accordance with each other, like driverless car can do, we will still have traffic jams and so on. But it's just my opinion. There is also a problem with insurance, in the case of accident, who should be blamed? If both cars are driverless and belongs to a municipality, then it's one story, but if one car is a privet driverless car and another one is a usual car, then it's completely different situation.
    In any case, it's question of transportation policies to allow or not such cars on roads. So, we can't avoid working with government or municipalities. You can't just decide to buy such a car and use it, you are not allowed to.
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      Jimmy Strobl 30+

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      TED Translator
      Jul 13 2011: I was hoping that there was some place on the planet where you were allowed to just buy it and try the system out... The argument that people are against it doesn't mean anything to me, I'm against people driving, according to me it's way safer for everybody if they didn't.
      Insurance, a problem not a valid argument not to do this.
      A combination of good cars and old ones should work better in jams then just the old ones...
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        Larisa Larionova 200+

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        TED TranslatorAssociateLanguage Coordinator
        Jul 13 2011: Oh, I see Jimmy, that you are just dreaming. That's good, but it's not how things work in this world. I'm considering this situation practically, and from practical point of view introduction of a new type of transport is not at all an easy thing. You know, it's just like with usual cars. You can read the history of how cars were introduced in our lives, the process wasn't always easy, and we developed vast amount of regulations since then.

        What other peoples think, are they against the idea or not may not mean anything to you, but it do mean a lot for policy and decision makers. If there are enough active people against something, it something will never be done, no matter how wonderful it something could be.
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          Jimmy Strobl 30+

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          Jul 13 2011: We seem to have a different view on reality. I'm also considering it practically, if there's a place where this isn't illegal (there are many different law books in the world) that place could serve as an example of just how good this could be, and others will follow!
          Yes, people's opinions matter for policy makers, but so does informed decisions and MONEY, the cost benefit for a society would greatly overweight any skeptics...

          Thank you for saying that "I have a dream" ^^ - It's true!
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    Larisa Larionova 200+

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    Jul 13 2011: I have been thinking about this driver-less cars possibility for a couple of years now. I think it's a great idea, but for a while, people, in the U.S. especially, are not ready to leave their right to drive :) I think that driver-less cars can become popular only if they are required at some places. Big cities with down-towns traffic clogs can try to isolate those down-towns and allow only driver-less car there, I mean it should be public transport inside such zones. Then the system can be extreamly effective, because if we have only driver-less cars in it, we can manage traffic flows choosing the best roots. I also think that the cars should be very small, for one or two people only. When the people see how convenient it is, that you can read, make phone calls and so on, and at the same time you have flexibility of your own car without a cost of a personal driver, when they see other benefits of the system like decreased mortality rate, then they'll want such cars everywhere, not only in down-towns.
    But in any case, there always will be somebody aggressively fighting the idea.
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      Jimmy Strobl 30+

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      Jul 13 2011: Let them fight the loosing battle!

      Any philanthropist or even greedy corporation should be able to see that just doing this in small scale, say 100 cars in a city, will start a trend that is hard to discard.

      Edit: Since they would be so cheap you could make a nice profit to make more cars!
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        Larisa Larionova 200+

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        TED TranslatorAssociateLanguage Coordinator
        Jul 13 2011: I'm not sure if it's a work for philanthropists. I don't think that driverless cars can become popular if we just start to use them on the same roads as usual cars. In this situation, people may not trust there lives for such a device, because everything depends on the behavior of other drivers. I can easily imagine a situation when some jealous drivers can create situation to demonstrate "weaknesses" of driverless cars.

        So it's a work for cities' administrations. Cities like Moscow or Paris have already restricted or plan to restrict the transport entrance to some districts. Such places can become good experimental areas for new transport.
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          Jimmy Strobl 30+

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          Jul 13 2011: I'm of the opposite idea, this has to be implemented on the structure we have now. Nothing is foolproof and it's mostly easily proven.
          Did you watch Sebastian Thrun's Talk?
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    Jimmy Strobl 30+

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    TED Translator
    Jul 13 2011: I've invited both Shai and Sebastian to this conversation by the way, so let's make it great and constructive!
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    Tim blackburn 30+

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    Jul 12 2011: make this happpppen
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    anthony bruni 30+

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    Jul 12 2011: Also it would be likely that people would lead to people car pooling more since no one would own the car. This alone would eliminate so much congestion.
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      Jimmy Strobl 30+

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      Jul 13 2011: Yes Anthony, this is one of the "And more and more and more" thank you for adding it, I didn't wan't to make the explanation too long...
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