The prospect of driverless taxis in Toronto is not a promise, it's a threat.

Reply to The prospect of driverless taxis in Toronto is not a promise, it's a threat. on Thu, 16 Apr 2026 12:57:30 GMT

papyrusbrigade@cosocial.ca — Thu, 16 Apr 2026 12:57:30 GMT

@cargot_robbie Resilience really feels like what we should be striving for, with so many aspects of public policy.

Reply to The prospect of driverless taxis in Toronto is not a promise, it's a threat. on Thu, 16 Apr 2026 12:37:55 GMT

cargot_robbie@urbanists.social — Thu, 16 Apr 2026 12:37:55 GMT

@PapyrusBrigade I think another important takeaway is that pushing for more durable types of public transport, like subways and LRTs, is an effective way to make the city more resilient against the types of changes slop cars taxis may push to effect. On top of making the city more accessible, more pleasant, and more affordable

Reply to The prospect of driverless taxis in Toronto is not a promise, it's a threat. on Thu, 16 Apr 2026 12:32:21 GMT

cargot_robbie@urbanists.social — Thu, 16 Apr 2026 12:32:21 GMT

@attoparsec That will probably depend on where they try to pull it off. I recently saw a huge gathering of vehicles all with the same flags, but they were all stopped in congested traffic. It dulled what would have otherwise been an impressive display. I expect they'd have to avoid those conditions for the visual impact to land, but that limits potential eyeballs too.

It's a neat idea, though. In, like, a horror movie monster sense

Reply to The prospect of driverless taxis in Toronto is not a promise, it's a threat. on Thu, 16 Apr 2026 11:09:28 GMT

papyrusbrigade@cosocial.ca — Thu, 16 Apr 2026 11:09:28 GMT

@cargot_robbie Truly an excellent video. The points that really stuck with me are that self driving cars will dramatically worsen traffic. Plus they will increase pressure to limit where pedestrians are allowed to be, because they don't recognise humans as well as other humans do.

Reply to The prospect of driverless taxis in Toronto is not a promise, it's a threat. on Thu, 16 Apr 2026 05:24:40 GMT

burnitdown@beige.party — Thu, 16 Apr 2026 05:24:40 GMT

@attoparsec someone will figure out their vulnerabilities and fuck with them, or use them to make blockades against cops.

but i am not in favour of adding more cars to Toronto.

Reply to The prospect of driverless taxis in Toronto is not a promise, it's a threat. on Thu, 16 Apr 2026 04:11:14 GMT

attoparsec@clacks.link — Thu, 16 Apr 2026 04:11:14 GMT

@cargot_robbie I've been waiting for "inverse carpools", where individuals drive an entire fleet of cars around, all empty except one, just to show off. Matching liveries, maybe those cool little embassy flags, following each other with some kind of flocking algorithm... I'll hate it, but it will definitely look pretty awesome.

Reply to The prospect of driverless taxis in Toronto is not a promise, it's a threat. on Thu, 16 Apr 2026 03:49:44 GMT

cargot_robbie@urbanists.social — Thu, 16 Apr 2026 03:49:44 GMT

As @burnheart123@youtube.com says, "with self-driving cars, the average number of people in a car will drop below 1."

Reply to The prospect of driverless taxis in Toronto is not a promise, it's a threat. on Thu, 16 Apr 2026 03:35:33 GMT

cargot_robbie@urbanists.social — Thu, 16 Apr 2026 03:35:33 GMT

Of particular not from @notjustbikes video:
- vehicle AI training costs money and will be cut asap
- changing cities will become more difficult if it require retraining, companies will lobby against progress
- slop taxis are even less useful to disabled people than regular taxis, there isn't even a driver to help
- taxis will circle around creating traffic congestion when not in use
- they frequently block public transport, bike lanes, and traffic
- trips will multiply in surprising ways