The project, reportedly the first of its kind in the world, will see robots ride subway trains to deliver goods to more than 100 stores across Shenzhen.
If the bots are required to have paid transit passes and if they’re confined to off-peak hours when the subways aren’t full anyway, this could actually be a net win for mass transit: they’re putting money into the system while consuming relatively few resources, so the bots can fund improvements that benefit humans.
Yeah. Just need to make sure that sensible restrictions are in place to prevent the creep into turning a public service into primarily a commercial one. Starts out only running during off hours, then running during active hours at a reduced rate, then it’s got dedicated cars for the robots, then it overflows into passenger cars… you see where it’s going. Best to set up guard rails before it’s a problem.
I actually thought a dedicated car would be a good solution. Of course as an additional car, not as a replacement for a passenger one. Then you could optimize the interior for these robots
If the bots are required to have paid transit passes and if they’re confined to off-peak hours when the subways aren’t full anyway, this could actually be a net win for mass transit: they’re putting money into the system while consuming relatively few resources, so the bots can fund improvements that benefit humans.
Yeah. Just need to make sure that sensible restrictions are in place to prevent the creep into turning a public service into primarily a commercial one. Starts out only running during off hours, then running during active hours at a reduced rate, then it’s got dedicated cars for the robots, then it overflows into passenger cars… you see where it’s going. Best to set up guard rails before it’s a problem.
I actually thought a dedicated car would be a good solution. Of course as an additional car, not as a replacement for a passenger one. Then you could optimize the interior for these robots
Good point. If trains are empty might as well use them.