Posted by bjd
a resident of Old Mountain View
on Sep 25, 2016 at 6:18 pm
bjd is a registered user.

Hi Beverly, thanks for the reply and you make a great point! Your thoughts remind me of an essay recently put out by the Lyft cofounder John Zimmer last week (Web Link -- the common point is that autonomy alone is not helpful, it is really ridesharing that is the key to reducing traffic and changing commuting behavior. The long-term goals of autonomy are safety and reduced operating cost, while a goal of ridesharing is to get cars off the road.

The MV Go and community shuttles are great examples of rideshare-like services. I have to admit I have not ridden the shuttles. At first I was hopeful that the MV Community Shuttle would work for my current commute from the Downtown area to San Antonio and California Street. I'd still have a over a mile to walk from the shuttle stops, and combined with the 30 minute frequency, it wasn't good enough to change my commuting habits(*).

A benefit of autonomy in the context of the Community Shuttle is that, long-term, it would reduce the operating cost of running the shuttle, perhaps allowing shuttles to run at 2-3x the frequency for less money. It would be great to know if ridership would go up with reduced wait times- for myself, perhaps it would have been good enough to be a viable commute option. Paying more money for more frequent service would give us a quick and easy answer to that question.

Running an autonomous shuttle along the Community Shuttle's route is a long way off, since it is a long and complex route. In the meantime, there are many questions to answer about how autonomy and cities will fit together, which is why I'd suggest an autonomous vehicle pilot on a simpler route, for example connecting the upcoming movie theater, office, and retail at San Antonio with Downtown-- a 2-mile route along a single straight road.



(*) I am very lucky to have a 2.5 mile commute that I can bike most days along a pretty safe route. When my bike is out of commission or the weather is bad, I'll occasionally take Caltrain, which is pretty expensive for the short trip and service between Castro and San Antonio stations is not frequent. Occasionally I do drive... it is (perhaps unfortunately) the most convenient and cheapest option, given that I do own a car.

Posted by PA Resident
a resident of another community
on Sep 25, 2016 at 10:34 pm

Once again, please remember that traffic is bad around here and is a regional problem not just a Mountain View problem.

Many people live in Palo Alto and work in Mountain View as well as v.v. Additionally we move between the two for shopping, recreation and social activities.

Any solution to work must take into account that people cross city and county boundaries all the time. Having shuttles that stay within each city will not help the majority of people who cross borders for their commutes and daily or weekly activities.