[FRIAM] Amtrak & driverless trains

[Prof David West]

Commercial airlines are 95% pilot-less. Even take-off and landing. Exceptions for weather, some specific airports, and emergencies. 

Davew

On Wed, Sep 8, 2021, at 3:28 PM, Steve Smith wrote:
> Jochen -
> 
> Yes, Amtrak is the primary passenger rail in the US.  I believe there are myriad local if not regional passenger rail options, especially on the East Coast.  I believe that Amtrak is technically privately owned but as "the only game in town" for long haul passenger service it depends heavily on Government subsidy/franchise.
> 
> Regarding driverless everything.  A friend of mine recently made the point that this is what we do as modern humans (meaning since neolithic or maybe just agriculture or perhaps industrial era) is to build things to replace ouselves.   The ultimate pinnacle will perhaps be post-humanism in the extreme?
> 
> Driverless trains make a lot more sense than driverless cars.  Even pilotless airlines would seem so since things are so constrained in air (and rail moreso) travel.   Driverless cars make a lot of sense to me also, but how to get from here to there... I suspect the hardest thing for driverless cars to cope with is cars with human drivers!
> 
>> Amtrak is the national railroad in the US ? President Joe Biden has been a frequent user of Amtrak trains
>> https://www.businessinsider.com/amtrak-joe-brief-history-of-bidens-history-americas-railroad-2021-4
>> 
>> We have an island at the North Sea where we go every year on vacation. It is about 500 km (310 miles) from Berlin. Usually we go by train, but this year the train drivers are on strike so we took a car instead. I believe in the near future train drivers will be obsolete anyway, because driverless trains are the future. Years ago I have seen self-checkout systems in supermarkets in London, and now they appear everywhere in Berlin, replacing salesmen. I believe it will be similar for driverless trains. I have seen impressive driverless trains in Copenhagen, Denmark, but not yet in Berlin
>> https://www.equaltimes.org/driverless-trains-are-coming-but?lang=en
>> 
>> -J.
>> 
>> 
>> -------- Original message --------
>> From: Steve Smith <sasmyth at swcp.com>
>> Date: 9/7/21 22:36 (GMT+01:00)
>> To: friam at redfish.com
>> Subject: Re: [FRIAM] Nick has gone dark
>> 
>> Mary and I are reading a biography of HD Thoreau and I feel like I have a better bead on who the heck NST is from getting a slightly better bead on that aspect of small town New England's history/perspective.    Neither of us have spent more than glancing careens through New England population centers in our lives.
>> 
>> We were on our way to visit a friend on the coast of Maine with an intention of crashing Nick's front porch party on the way by, for some egg-salad sandwiches when Mary's back went sideways.  We've been doing urgent care/medical imaging/accupuncture/physical therapy instead.   She's recovering well and may likely avoid surgery.
>> 
>> It is just as well with COVID spiking again... we were planning an Amtrak run supplemented by a rental car and might have been able to avoid the worst of the gambit ( not so much our own risk, but the risk of stirring pots best left under-stirred and becoming vectors ourselves ).   
>> 
>> I read that Amtrak style travel clocks in at 1/2 the carbon footprint of air-travel... I'm surprised it is not better.  In either case, it doesn't fit well into my aspiration of joining (spiritually) the 2000 Watt Society <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2000-watt_society>.   The more formidable target of a 500W Society (to achieve a carbon-neutral humanity with lots of assumptions) doesn't likely leave any room for long-distance travel unless it is roughly by-foot (bring back the Mormon Handcart <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mormon_pioneers#Travel_conditions>?)  Maybe DaveW can get a friend to haul him into his favorite hot-spring that way without the noise and erosion and fumes of an ATV?
>> 
>> On 9/7/21 2:14 PM, Jochen Fromm wrote:
>>> My domain has expired this week too and my email account stopped to work, but I was able to renew it. Hope you are online again soon!
>>> 
>>> -J.
>>> 
>>> 
>>> -------- Original message --------
>>> From: Nicholas Thompson <thompnickson2 at gmail.com>
>>> Date: 9/7/21 19:46 (GMT+01:00)
>>> To: The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group <friam at redfish.com>
>>> Subject: [FRIAM] Nick has gone dark
>>> 
>>> I fried my network adapter, so I will have no network connectivity at least until friday.  Possibly, longer if it turns out to be a software problem.  Didn't want anybody to think I didn't love them.  If you need to talk, best to call me at 413-477-6602.  God knows I don't have anything else to do.   
>>> 
>>> Nick 
>>> 
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>> 
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