[QUOTE=ombugge;191154]You are right, levitating garbage trucks doesn’t exist, but levitating trains does, in China and Japan: Japan maglev train breaks world speed record again - BBC News
Shanghai Maglev was inaugurated in 2004: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTo-krTSZBA[/QUOTE]
I rode that maglev train in Shanghai. It goes between the airport and… No where in particular, in the suburbs somewhe. The normal trains in shanghai are like nothing I have seen before. Very well used. Very dingy, but in a sort of nice, old-fashioned way. Noisy. Jerky. So crouded! On the maglev train everything is new, luxurious, spotless, quiet, covered in red velveteen. I was the only passenger. It was spooky-feeling. And expensive. I took the normal train back to the airport on my way home.
Driverless trains on metro lines are old hat. In Singapore there are now three MRT lines that are driverless.
Come for a ride with me on Downtown Line 2, which is the latest one, so far: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dm-RRjOBzdA
I love the MRT. It’s the best train system in the world. (“the world” in this case consists of Paris, London, Singapore, Shanghai, Portland and Vancouver. I didn’t spend enough time in New York to ride the trains, unfortunately) the MRT, though, I could go on for days. Affordable, extensive, clean, beautiful, the stations are near all these amazing places. And there’s bao nearby. It’s awesome. I’m sure New York is nice, but it isn’t Singapore. Incidentally, our sky trains don’t have operators, either. That’s not at all surprising, though. The sky trains have a dedicated, unshared, access controlled fixed geometry network. There’s no chance of non-sky train vehicles being on the network, and no way a train can be operated outside the network. A train doesnt have to make any choices. So I don’t see how trains are any sort of useful analogy to drone ships.