In March
Pity! Was looking forward to hopping on the bike come spring. Now I’m worried!
I’m looking forward to it.
Automated cars won’t be looking down at their phones when driving, they aren’t selfish drivers so will indicate always, and in good time to be useful to other road users and, unless there is a “Swiss Edition” of the automation software, they won’t tailgate or drive too close.
The “SmartShuttle” is Switzerland’s first driverless bus. It has been running on an experimental basis through the narrow streets of the old town of Sion, the capital of The Valais since June 2016.
The launch of two autonomous shuttle buses in Fribourg in September 2017 marks the first time in Switzerland that such vehicles have been inducted into the regular transport network.
In 2021, PostBus launched another world-first in Saas-Fee: the luggage robot “Robi”. An autonomous vehicle was used in Swiss public transport without a safety driver for the first time.
“Automated vehicles will make road traffic safer, improve traffic flow and permit the more efficient utilisation of the available capacities,” reads a Transport of the Future 2060 report published by the transport ministry in 2020.
The promised improvement in traffic flow is obviously nonsense, one because the autonomous run far slower and two because it makes no difference if the vehicle is autonomous or not. What that improvement requires is a reduction of need for transport (persons and goods), the trend however goes in precisely the opposite direction. Obviously that does not lead to more efficient utilisation, unless that means dense traffic 24/7 instead of during the rush hours only.
Of course they promise paradise, it’s how they sell their product. But keep in mind that the paperless office is still waiting to happen after 40-50 years.
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Also keep in mind that people without a license and can not drive, will be able to have cars. So traffic will probably get denser. So Switzerland is gearing up for permanent traffic jams.
Funny enough, seems that self driving cars are ruining the sleepless nights of German burocracy.
The car… or the type would have to pass a driving test and pass again when there is s software update and the person on charge must have a valid licence in order to be able to override at any time.
Self driving cars are coming but only if they get past burocracy.
Given that we are a landlocked country surrounded by neighbours with differing regulations, it would need to be a hybrid car with self driving software for when you cross the border. In any case I am not so interested in it for city and town driving but for highways where I think it would make a massive difference in reducing traffic jams. A lot of that is caused by stupid drivers with frequent speed and lane changes which cause a ripple effect. So rather than build more lanes to accommodate traffic, just have all cars auto-driving in convoy, in perfect synchronicity.
it’s called train.
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Not sure whether you are being particularly obtuse today and it may reflect the type of driver you are but the shockwave traffic jams are mainly caused by drivers getting too close behind other cars and then braking, causing others behind to slow down or brake too.
If all drivers on motorways kept enough distance between them and the vehicle in front then it wouldn’t matter a damn whether they changed speed or lanes.
It’s actually lack of lane changing which aggravates (some) drivers as people don’t move back into the near-side lanes.
Happy Friday Angry Tom, by speed changes I am including speeding up and braking.
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You can speed up and brake. This is part of normal driving (Seriously? WTF?)
It’s doing this too close to other people and causing those cars behind you (also driving too close) to brake too.
To think I have to drive with people like you on the road and you have absolutely no self-reflection on your lack of driving skill.
You must be part of that 80% of drivers who think they are above average.
Happy stupid Friday!
LOL 
No self-awareness. Thinks it’s funny.
You should be first in line for an automated car as you don’t seem to have much of a clue about driving a normal one.
I don’t think automated driving will make the works on the Gubrist tunnel end sooner.
Also, automated driving won’t make Easter, Ascension weekend or ski holidays go away.
A lot of issues are behavioral, not in the driving style but about lots of people travelling at the same time through the same bottleneck. The day has 24 hours, we should use them. A little nudge via congestion pricing might help a bit 
PS. the only driving behavior I can complain is people slowing down from the allowed 120kmh to 80 kmh when they see a radar. This propagates as a wave back down in traffic and it cause the perennial block in the A1 in Härkingen every weekend.
It better not
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hahhaha poor redaction. let me fix it:
Also, automated driving won’t make the traffic jams during Easter, Ascension weekend or ski holidays go away.
It’s not necessary to drive at midnight. Even at 20h00 on high traffic days it’s already more pleasant.
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There would have to be a substantial number of automated cars on the road to see whether it did make a difference.
I suspect if people sitting in one feel they can do better (but not necessarily safer, or more efficiently, or less likely to cause jams), I suspect they’ll disengage the automation and take over control.
That innate desire many people seem to suffer from to get ahead of the vehicle in front won’t automatically disappear.
I’m actually a very good driver Tom, considerate and Zen in my driving style. My only vice is mowing down cyclists in Lycra, but nobody is perfect.
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Are they still working on that bloody Gubrist tunnel?