It’s hard to understand how driverless automobiles will help to relieve our traffic and transportation problems. But that, apparently, is what Google and others are anticipating.
It would be wonderful to jump into a car, press the button that is already preset to travel selected routes and let it take you there while your hands are sending social or business messages on your phone, guiding stitches on a knitting piece or drawing a picture of the scenery that passes by.
Let’s not expect this to happen soon.
Back when Interstate 10 was first constructed between Baton Rouge and New Orleans, former Gov. Edwin Edwards expressed wishes that commuter rail service would be constructed in the neutral ground to carry travellers between southeast Louisiana’s two largest cities and in between. That has never happened, but it is much more likely to help workers and travelers get where they are going than a driverless automobile is likely to do.
And such a rail service would be a great value to commuters, especially when one takes a look at the traffic on I-10 on days when business is active between those two major cities. There would also be stops in St. Charles and other parishes to make southeast Louisiana almost like a metropolitan area.
It would be a pleasure to park your car at a train stop, hop onto a train and relax in safety while you take care of personal matters as you get to your destination. After all, so much time is lost in handling personal affairs when one has to watch the highway and oncoming cars while staying prepared to press on the brakes when necessary.
Considering the way business is growing in this area, there is need for increased commuter service. But we probably don’t have time to await development of the driverless automobile.
And that may not be the best way to go–with your hands off the wheel on highways we have to travel on these days. We have to do what other metropolitan areas have done to make travel easier in their perimeters without having to rely solely on driver dependent automobiles.
It’s time to consider creating a commuter train service tied into the Interstate 10 system that can unite southeast Louisiana and turn the area into a place where our residents can travel easily for pleasure and business without facing the crush of traffic on the interstate.
The time has come for that.
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