Robin Chase: Getting cars off the road and data into the skies

[lightandbeautiful]

Homosexual activists understand the power of words.

Please visit my channel to watch a one-minute video clip in which popular atheist author Richard Dawkins admits that homosexual activists "hijacked the word 'gay'".

The word "homosexual" is more appropriate and accurate because it, unlike the word "gay", actually describes the behavior/attraction/relationsh­ip being discussed.

The word "gay" helps homosexual activists push their agenda.

[oneeyedboxer]

I would never share a car with anyone, having a car on demand that you can take for drive anytime and go anywhere is priceless .

[JPRubber2]

What a skewed perspective. A country's capability to grow and support growth has always been proportional to people's ability to travel. Obviously, we need to get off the roads, but not pay per mile. Before you know it they will charge you to walk next door.

[Headcaser10]

Freedom is not free. I already pay for my own way and am aware of the costs that are related to my activities. I find it unfotunate that the people who use Global-Warming scare tactics don,t seem to follow the research avaliable. The ice cores that have been obtained from both poles,as well as deep ocean sediments show that our planet has undergone temp. shifts many times in the past. People still survived. The adaptable and inventive live, folk like TED and such will become exstinct. GOOD DEAL!

[LusoCMD]

Once again this would put the rich in every road and leave out poor to average people. I like the sharing car and use by need car concept but we most be careful when putting money as the force to make people stop doing something

[Mrmoc7]

I appreciate her courage to voice out her Ideas, and they are very good ideas, but they do not take into account a number of things: Human laziness, evilness, terrorism, and selfishness. Her plans would be very viable if everyone was a decent human being. I simply don't think there will be enough collective will to make this happen. We would rather choke on CO2 than share a ride with our neighbors. Anyone who seriously intends to address global warming will need to find a way around this.

[deadswans2000]

Wow, pretty clueless comments. A fat man saying "Let me eat myself to death and everyone else can sustain my medical costs." Believe me we'd all love to see you kill yourself with pollution except you'll end-up taking the rest of us with you. Put down the jelly doughnut, put down the car, stop being such a selfish suicidal bastard.

[wipemybutton]

Very dumb. I want to see the statistics that say having fuel efficient vehicles will only help pollution by 4% in 10-15 years.

[Varrig010]

A german car company had plans like this too. Was a few years ago around 1940-45. Volkswagon. When kind Mr. Hitler was running it the eventual design behind his wonderful Bug. Was to have everyone in one. Thanks but I live in a FREE Country I will drive what I like, when I like. If you want to find a way to clean the atmosphere. Please do, the conference discusses those technologies in depth. But quit trying to make everyone's life as boring as yours.

[putittogether]

Dumb very dumb. Taxs is not the answer, limiting freedom is not the answer. It has NEVER worked in ALL of recorded human history. It will fail, for a simple reason...It is FORCED, humans do not like to be forced to do ANYTHING. There is another answer, go back to the drawing board, and stop taking the totalitarian approach to solving problems.

[jojo808]

What do you suggest? Cost will manifest somewhere . We are all Forced ,often just unknowingly. I feel as capitalists our weakest link is comradery ,but 1 strength is our drive for money so we will end up paying collectively before we find a common solution.

[DMoney64]

Isn't everyone forced to pay property and other taxes which pay for roads? Only, even people who don't drive cars are forced as well. Get people to pay for what they use or the resource will be abused, imagine if gas was 'free' by being paid for by taxes, it would be wasted horrendously.

[c6gunner]

"Only, even people who don't drive cars are forced as well. Get people to pay for what they use"

I don't use public schooling, so I shouldn't have to pay for it, right? Oh, and my house has never caught fire so don't make me pay for the fire department. Plus I've NEVER needed the cops, so why am I paying for them?

Yes, I'm being sarcastic, but I hope you see the point. Roads are a common resource. Even if you don't drive on them, you still benefit from them.

[DMoney64]

It's easy to see roads as a basic service, and in many ways all of society benefits from roads. There is a certain concept in economics called benefits received, in other words, people pay based on what they use. Ergo, since everyone benefits a little from roads regardless of whether they use them, everyone pays a little. If people use the roads more, they pay more. Basically, there is a basic 'service fee' everyone pays regardless of use, then a user fee you pay when you actually use the roads.

[dwarftoad]

There is no "free movement". Cities, towns, etc own the roads and other rights of way and they regulate it via traffic laws as well as driver permits and vehicle registrations. You aren't "free" to drive the wrong way down the road. After roadways, almost all other land is private property.

That's just the way it is.

So why not think about how to best manage the common roadway that we all have to use? This is supposed to be a "democracy" you know.

[Peter8Roberts]

Road pricing is wrong. The roads belong to the public who already paid for them. Why should we pay for them twice, or three times?

In the UK, we pay around seven times as much in motoring taxes as is used by government to build and maintain our roads. We have hardly added to our road network in ten years with a clearly forecast increase in demand.

[Peter8Roberts]

We pay about $2.20 a LITRE for fuel and nobody can afford to drive for pleasure. This means pretty much all journeys are necessary and therfore, pricing people to make a journey which they are unable to avoid defeats the idea of reducing congestion and time shifting travel.

In a civilised society, we have an unequivical right to travel where and when we need. It is quite wrong for government to auction through pricing our roadspace by forcing the least able to pay off the roads.

[DMoney64]

The idea is to abolish the taxes that currently fund the roads (e.g. property taxes) and get people to pay for what they use, just like any other essential utility like electricity, water, heating etc.

[morelshaman]

An excellent speech and a great vision of the future "World Auto Web"

It sounds like a plausible solution - perhaps Ms. Chase needs to convince car companies to have web nodes installed in vehicles - there are already GPS and massive hard drives for music.

[Peter8Roberts]

Typical,

As usual, all those people supporting road pricing and the "catastrophic global disaster" religon are trying to make money out of it.

A socialists dream.

[dwarftoad]

As usual, all those people supporting goverment subsidized and tax supported road building and maintainence and are trying to make money out of it.

[UbiquitousChe]

I would so use a Zip Car.

[jefboyardee]

You have to trust every stranger you'll never meet that rented your zip car just before you did.

[dwarftoad]

Trust them with what?

[jonlevin]

It's not about charging you to move freely about. It's about trying to discourage you from mindlessly adding to an already crippling problem in dense urban areas. There is no way to calculate the dollar-value of the time wasted by all the people stuck in traffic every single day in Mid-town Manhattan alone.

[dwarftoad]

Well, it's about charging more specifically for use. There are expenses to maintaining roadways. Isn't it more fair to charge those who actually use a specific road for their use of it?

[lud666]

It's not like you aren't paying for congestion now. In most places congestion is paid for by taxes. Congestion charges are just another way of paying the cost (roads, police, parking, polution, noise etc...) that exist if you call it a "Gas Tax" or "Congestion Fee". No one's charging your fat ass to walk to work!

[putittogether]

very very very dumb.  More tax's is not the answer.

[sumadartsan]

Brilliant!

[ddball1]

Important to reduce waste etc. Zipcar is a great idea. However, the global warming scare campaign is a turn off.

[BlandyFarFromReal]

Not just emissions... get the fucking concrete off the earth, mother earth is pissed about that! lol Cars will fly sooner or later, as like trains which will be above ground rather than through the ground... we already have FREE ENERGY but elitists need that money to keep em in power right now.

[kosmicslop]

I think most of you are letting your own political ideas get in the way of what she's saying about the cars. How is what she doing communist? She identified what she percieved as a problem, developed a business plan and made the ultimate capitalist bet and began a business. She's speaking at TED because that bet seemed to have payed off and she might have some other good ideas. If she is so off-base, anyone on this comment board is free to counter her business model and prove her wrong.

[MrSubtle]

I wasn't the one who called her a communist, but the reason someone might do that is that she is talking about the government forcing everyone to buy the products that she is talking about and to forbid anyone from competing with her preferred way of doing things. She's starting out with voluntary things for now and that's fine, but she has her eyes on state control of at least all of the parts of the economy she is interestedin.

[dinogrower]

@kosmicslop I think your eight votes are fake.

[kosmicslop]

@dinogrower Well, everyone is entitled to their own opinion. But I had actually forgotten about this comment until you replied because I made it 2 years ago.

[dinogrower]

@kosmicslop okay thanks for responding to me. I noticed you said that anyone is free to counter her business model and prove her wrong. I think her argument and idea was pretty much demolished by the TED talk called: "Amory Lovins: We must win the oil endgame" That guys knows what he is talking about and what the solution is. This lady, well, communist is too nice a word for her. She is more than taking us all a step backwards.

[mrkvamaster]

Type "global cooling" into youtube search and watch the first video. Funny stuff indeed.

[Azureim]

The part about 50% extinct species is bullshit. But the wi-fi thing might be great if it can really work well. I like the ideas of free information :P

[1supa1]

Few points:

- I think that in order to reduce traffic congestion, one has to consider to create a transit system that will be able to fully substitute for having a car - this point was missing.

- Also having a transmitter in your car is a great way of monitoring what every one is doing. Seems like a surveillance state to me.

- Free wireless network seem like a good idea though. I would like to know how is she coming up with no costs...

[gkdrummerboy]

Best way to control people, is to control prices and money. Seriously...money can radically change things. I might sound crazy but perhaps a temporary totalitarian government to control our mass pollution? you may now object (lol), you are entitled to your own opinion.

[DrRandale]

money is one of the most beautiful things we humans ever invented.

And one of the most beautiful things about it, is that it trumps ideology!

If we use this knowledge wisely then we can have good prosperous lives AND solve the climate crisis (and other crises, like the destruction of freedom and happiness by religion).

[VeiledGlory]

I disagree with her premise that the only reason why we drive our autos too much is because of under-pricing. The infrastructure of 90% of the U.S. cities is designed for automobiles and not for pedestrian/mass transit movement. Why punish the consumer for something they had little to no choice in? Tackle the larger issues of urban design first to allow people to make choices.

[gkdrummerboy]

Good point, unless you live in NY or San Francisco, driving is the only efficient way to get around..why not make an organization that gets grants for hydrogen fuel...although highly flammable and expensive to make, the raw resource is everywhere, and the byproduct is water.

[jaimeone1]

I think this is a great idea.....start with urban design

[trombone7]

I'm all for change. I'm all for radical change in dire circumstances. But I can hear the complaints now. "What ? You're going to make it even more cost prohibitive for me to hop in my car, go to a bookstore for coffee and browsing ?" But the good thing about TED Talks is that... Even if this program never gets implemented, it plants a seed in others' minds about radically reconfiguring logistical systems we take for granted. Whether cars, utilities, wireless access etc.

[ebolart]

I don't wanna go shopping with my neighbour!

[Keylimedelight]

mmmm...government control of and interference in markets is always the solution :D

[jeffboatright]

So you're against bailing out the lenders, right?

[graveyardpc]

Mass car pulling, right. Like that will ever catch on. What's the next idea, shallow breathing?

[EverettsVLOG]

might as well jsut heavily tax gasoline wahts the big deal in this proposal

[burtflaxton]

Temperature rise and species extinction... just another day in the universe lady... get over it.

[EverettsVLOG]

AGHAHAHAHHA

[digitalmindtherapy]

Hehe silly fools. Either give up some luxuries now, or lose all your luxuries soon.

[EverettsVLOG]

nah put some aresols up into the atmosphere

[CheeezMaster]

AND, I bet people would get FORCED if this were implemented.

I don't want to share a car with my asshole neighbors.

[mattpier]

LOL, did you ever consider you might be the asshole neighbor everyone's going to get stuck with?

[CheeezMaster]

EVREYONE might get stuck with me?

if so, cars will need to get bigger.

[CheeezMaster]

fabian socialism anyone?

this is scary.

[borris79]

the rich get richer and the poor get controlled ;~}

[cozmikzen]

tolls are a VERY BAD idea. it will further trap the poor into areas, it will be check points for governments to check your papers, they will have tolls AND gas. Free info for everyone is great(internet in car rocks), but installing big brother cameras everywhere? Am I the only one seeing how VERY BAD these ideas are? i think TED should sue and ban this woman. I think she is Dick Cheney in disguise. Where is Rumsfeld...maybe it's him?

[reivilo]

and like the government is going to stop taxing gas?!?!? they will tax your gas, the use of road, and use of the mesh network. people should be free to choose NOT to get this device.

Just goes to show brilliant people can create some really stupid things.

[ScarDrey]

argh :@ she's a carbon-tax witch, too!

she should go find out how much goddamn "carbon" come out of a volcano!

[Keylimedelight]

those valcanos need to pay!

[thkaal]

A question...she wants wireless networking?  Who is supplying the power? That's gonna cost. Who is supplying the hardware? That'll cost. This woman obviously has no clue about economics at all. She's merely a communist, thus making her a political flunky.

[thkaal]

Sadly, this woman is insane. She has no clue what she's talking about. When the No. 1 cause of global warming is water vapor, no amount of emissions control will fix it.

[BrandonFurtwangler]

Dude, who are you to judge her? She was invited to talk at TED...were you?

If you wanna bring up irrelavant 'facts' at least get it right. The No. 1 cause of global warming is the Sun.

[thkaal]

Whether I was invited to TED or not is irrelevant. She was not invited to my speaking group. Nor was Al Gore. Nor was anyone from Scientology. TED is just a group of people who get together and bs. It is a barroom for people with lots of letters after their names. Yes, some have something to say, others do not.

[twoheel]

She is a fabian socialist who is telling fables to forward her agenda.

She is fully aware that she is telling a pack of lies. Fabian Socialist say so openly in private.

[twoheel]

The Blacks copy the car keys and hide GPS tracking devices in the car.

They then follow the car around and steal your stuff.

Have you seen the jiggaboo jones videos?

[JohnJ2427]

Rental cars are a new idea?

[RPGabe]

Zipcar works for the environment because it makes people want to not drive anymore? I don't know if that's the best business model...

[mattpier]

and what's a better business model? It takes potential car owners away from dealers and potential public transpo riders from the subways and trains and buses. It's a great business model...it just hurts less efficient competitors. Profit at the expense of efficiency is anti-capitalistic. The moral value of capitalism is its tendency toward efficiency.

[OMGLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL]

lawlz

[Durgeofcerberus]

Anarchy!

[LifeSexIdeas]

capitalism standing in the way of innovation

[000Jordan]

If oil was not subsidized few people could afford to pay for it and alternatives would become profitable.  It's not capitalism standing in the way, but the power of the state.

[BrandonFurtwangler]

How exactly is it subsidized? Its produced by the saudi's for $8 a barrel and sold for $90+? That sounds more like the opposite of subsidizing.

[000Jordan]

#1 Military force use to secure a resource paid for with tax or printed money is a subsidy. If we had to pay for the military action at the pump, few people would.

#2 Billions of dollars in "foreign aid" to Saudi Arabia to insure our trade relations.

It's true these are not direct subsidies, but the effect is the same.

[jeffboatright]

No, they're pretty much a direct subsidy. There is only one reason we have any interest in the ME. Take all the money we spend on & in the ME, ALL of it in a year (heck, with the off budget expenditures, that'll be tough), then divide by the number of gallons of gas we use, and you'll see what the taxpayer is subsidizing at the pump per gallon.

[000Jordan]

I'm sorry, I'm not sure I understand where our disagreement is.

I said military and foreign aid are not quite a direct subsidy, and you say they're pretty much a direct subsidy. Isn't that the same thing?

[cozmikzen]

its a subsidy AND the rape us on the gas, wake up. Our military IS the subsidy. and as for the other comment to the other guy u wrote the sun is the major cause for global warming. i dont think so, the sun has been beating on the earth for what...4 1/2 billion years? its pollution as a whole that is causing the atmosphere to change. the sun is doing what it has always done. the sun os still young, it will be millions, maybe billions of years before the sun cooks the earth.