Australia’s first trackless tram has arrived in Perth following a long journey from Shanghai, China and will undergo testing before potentially running along an iconic slice of WA’s coast.
I remember watching a video during lockdown here and melb of a dudes reaction to a news report about these ‘trackless trams’ and to this day it still sticks in my head
“Haven’t seen the family in months, can’t go to the pub, but FUCK I CANT WAIT TO GO CATCH SOME BUSES”
Also, this is my first post from Boost, so uhh, go easy on me!
Maybe they’ve finally solved the trolley problem by passing the buck and handing off the repsonsibilty to some program. No matter how it fails, no one will be at fault and any injuries or deaths will be the cost of progress.
But then whoever presses the execute command for the program would then be at fault? Or the designers of the program? Or an apportionment of blame share?
I remember watching a video during lockdown here and melb of a dudes reaction to a news report about these ‘trackless trams’ and to this day it still sticks in my head
“Haven’t seen the family in months, can’t go to the pub, but FUCK I CANT WAIT TO GO CATCH SOME BUSES”
Also, this is my first post from Boost, so uhh, go easy on me!
But seriously, what sets this apart from a Bus?
I think they set the self driving settings to “smooth like a slow tram” rather than “driven like it’s stolen” the way transperth busses often are.
It has 3 sections (instead of 2 on a standard ‘bendy bus’) and no driver.
It gives rise to all sorts of trolley problems. Philosophers of Perth, prepare your points!
Maybe they’ve finally solved the trolley problem by passing the buck and handing off the repsonsibilty to some program. No matter how it fails, no one will be at fault and any injuries or deaths will be the cost of progress.
But then whoever presses the execute command for the program would then be at fault? Or the designers of the program? Or an apportionment of blame share?
The trolley problem! Hours of fun to be had!
It’s self-driving, I guess.
Busses can go anywhere the driver wants to go.
This will have a programmed route. It will stop and go autonomously but can not deviate from the route.