“A Ghost Is Driving the Car!”

…and more ghosts could change everything

Photo by Bernd Dittrich on Unsplash

A preview of the future of transportation is occurring in a small area of the Phoenix suburbs. Waymo, which is part of Alphabet, started offering its fleet of hailable driverless vehicles there in 2020. In other words, taxis and Ubers without the drivers.

This CNBC article chronicles a reporter’s experience with two such rides. Much like I wrote about here in San Francisco, riders are taking easily to the new technology. It has benefits. As a passenger, you don’t have to worry about the social interaction with the driver, so you can focus on yourself — texting, phone calls, writing a letter, or whatever. The reporter FaceTimed his daughter, who gave him that priceless line about the ghost.

If you want to get a flavor of what the future of transportation will look like,