I was listening to The Smoking Tire Podcast with guest Missy Cummings, an expert and professor in autonomous technology. At one point, host Matt Farah asks a really poignant question: why the need for autonomous cars? Why are companies spending billions on chasing this technology? The answer is simple: to save time.
Or rather, take back time. The countless hours stuck in traffic on a commute could be better spent doing something else, if the car is able to drive itself without any user input. Take a nap, perhaps, or read a book. What would I do in the hypothetical reality where autonomous cars are possible? Cook and eat a really nice meal. Induction, naturally. Open flame in a moving car just spells disaster.
Anyways, the want to regain the time lost in traffic illuminates an obvious solution that’s far easier than figuring out self-driving cars: get rid of the commute. One of the best things I've done last year was move within walking distance to work. Never again will I have to sit in traffic to and from the campus. The reason a sizable amount of people are clinging to the work-from-home lifestyle even as we are opening back up? (Delta variant notwithstanding) There’s no commute working at home!
We are lucky to even have this discussion. The entire service industry don’t have the option of telecommuting. Though it seems some teachers unions are keeping on the Sisyphean fight to the end.
It’s sitting in traffic for hours that really sucks the soul. Instead of waiting for autonomous technology (one that may never materialize in cars) to save us from our misery, employees can and will instead opt to work for companies that allow remote work indefinitely. Or, they can move closer to work as I did. Either which way, the solution is there. It’s better for the planet, too, with less cars on the road during peak hours.
Sunset glow.