Elon Musk Is About To Solve Public Transportation In A Big Way

In a previous post, I laid out some issues with self-driving cars that will make the implementation process more difficult and formidable than many would think. The issue is the kind of infrastructure necessary to support such vehicles. But if there's one person who has been working on those issues, and a plethora of others that would make our heads spin, it's Elon Musk. 

Already 400,000 orders for this vehicle.

As Bloomerberg reports, the CEO cum veritable Iron Man, made certain claims at a future of transportation conference in Norway about a kind of self-driving vehicle that would radically reduce traffic and facilitate mass human transportation. These 'vehicles' could replace buses and other sources of public transport in major cities--but, he's keeping the details under wraps. 

"We have an idea for something which is not exactly a bus but would solve the density problem for inner city situations. . . Autonomous vehicles are key. I don’t want to talk too much about it. I have to be careful what I say.”

What he did say was that these vehicles would take people to their final destinations, and not just drop them off at a bus stop.

Elon Musk at Norway Future of Transportation Conference

Musk has stated that traffic congestion is "soul destroying," according to an interview in May with Bloomberg Television. And in previous interviews he has hinted at his self-driving vehicles to provide some kind of mass public transportation system--an answer to a question that's commonly raised about SVs and where they go when they've taken people to their destination. With the rise of Uber, a mass fleet of Tesla SVs could seriously disrupt the transportation industry. 

As I've said before, the transportation industry is absolutely exploding right now. We are at a point of convergence of technology as cities are about to boom, especially with the rise of migration to the western world. Transportation will be one of the most critical issues in the next 5-10 years, and Elon Musk is one of a handful of people on the planet who are really putting their thinking caps, and a lot of cash, toward a solution. 

Nevertheless, the question that broods over all of these technological advancements is will they lead to a freer, more facilitative world, or one that is more controlled and repressive of human freedom.