Escaping the Ogallala Trap
2 days ago
- #Autonomous Vehicles
- #Traffic Policy
- #Resource Management
- The Ogallala Aquifer faces severe depletion due to center pivot irrigation, illustrating how technologies like diesel engines and chlorofluorocarbons can overexploit common resources.
- Self-driving cars, expanding in cities, could lead to traffic gridlock as they enable activities like working or sleeping during commutes, increasing road demand without point-of-use charges.
- To avoid omnigridlock, governments should impose mileage charges on autonomous vehicles early, using grandfathering and quid pro quo (like new infrastructure) to gain voter acceptance, similar to successful toll systems.