Better lane markings on many of California's worn out freeways might help autopilots in the "corner cases" that Elon Musk publicly stated delayed AP's release (I-405 near L.A.). As more and more cars get equipped with autopilot - would it be possible to get our legislators to allocate the funds to re-stripe our roads - and implement a maintenance program where lane markings stay visible?
-
Want to remove ads? Register an account and login to see fewer ads, and become a Supporting Member to remove almost all ads.
As I understand it, the city roads are the financial responsibility of the city, the unincorporated areas are the responsibility of the county, and the highways/freeways/interstate are the responsibility of the state.
That being said I haven't had much issue with autopilot not reading the the lane markings, and I've driven pretty extensively on the 405 and all the highways near the Tesla HQ in Hawthorne.
That's good to hear - I take delivery in a couple days. My AP experience was renting a 7.0 car for a week right after it was first released. When traveling into the afternoon sun on the 10 west, or into the morning sun going east - I found that AP seemed to really work hard at wiggling around trying to stay in the lane. I assumed it was due to the glare on the road reducing the visible contrast between lane markings and pavement, and thus reducing AP's confidence level that it knew where the lane divisions were.
Maybe they've improved its algorithms or implemented use of some HD maps in 7.1?
cpa
Active Member
As I understand it (and I could be wrong,) road and highway funding come from several sources. I believe that most of the funding for city streets comes from city coffers. Similarly, county roads come from county coffers, but I think there are some provisions for additional funding from Sacramento. (The Streets and Highways Code is a labyrinth.) Legislative routes include interstate, federal and state numbered highways, and they are funded by Sacramento and Washington. (The only exception is for signed surface highways that are within city limits, whereby the state has relinquished control of the route to the city.)
Highway funds are used for new construction, repair and maintenance. I would guess that lane striping falls into the maintenance category. We all know that our roads are in pretty bad shape here in California. I further guess that lane striping is far down the list for maintenance-type work. It is unfortunate, but there just isn't enough money to do everything that the state is supposed to do to keep our highways in good condition.
Highway funds are used for new construction, repair and maintenance. I would guess that lane striping falls into the maintenance category. We all know that our roads are in pretty bad shape here in California. I further guess that lane striping is far down the list for maintenance-type work. It is unfortunate, but there just isn't enough money to do everything that the state is supposed to do to keep our highways in good condition.
hockeythug
Active Member
Eventually there will have to be policy change either by a millage tax (which most EV owners are on board) with or something else.
Last edited:
jeffro01
Active Member
CA has a multi-billion dollar shortfall with regards to highway maintenance, upkeep, repair, replacement, and upgrading so I highly doubt lane markings are very high on CalTrans priority list... The shortfall will only continue to get worse as the primary source of funding, the gas tax, continues to dwindle as people buy less and less fuel. Raising the tax to compensate for that reality is, well, not very politically popular which makes it almost a dead idea to start.
Long term a new funding mechanism is going to be needed and EV drivers are going to have to pay their fare share. Mileage based is the way to go but privacy advocates are staunchly against that under the idea that the government will track you... I believe Oregon or Washington state is piloting such a program so we'll see how it goes. Either way, the money has to come from somewhere...
Jeff
Long term a new funding mechanism is going to be needed and EV drivers are going to have to pay their fare share. Mileage based is the way to go but privacy advocates are staunchly against that under the idea that the government will track you... I believe Oregon or Washington state is piloting such a program so we'll see how it goes. Either way, the money has to come from somewhere...
Jeff
CHG-ON
Still in love after all these miles
California has $150,000,000,0000 in unfunded retirement obligations, never mind the other issues with the poor and homeless in the state and you want to spend money on corner cases so rich people can use autopilot instead of drivetheir cars like everyone else?
seriously?
please tell me that you were joking.
i really hope that this is a joke.
You can keep hoping all you like sweetheart but I wasn't joking. Keep your hope alive!
jeffro01
Active Member
CA spends more than enough on the poor and homeless, if anything they should be spending less, far less actually. Regarding unfunded pension obligations, yes this is a serious problem that's not being taken seriously by the state but that's an entirely different issue all together.
I highly doubt the OP was joking, and I can promise you I'm not joking when I say that the lack of infrastructure spending, in favor of say spending hundreds of billions on the poor and homeless, is absurd. Infrastructure spending, or the lack thereof, has far reaching consequences.
Jeff
mspohr
Well-Known Member
I don't know about other parts of the state but up in the Sierra, winter snow, ice, gravel and chains erase road marks quickly. Just yesterday, CalTrans was out re-striping Hwy 89 (and as a result, AP works great). It's a constant battle. I don't think the cost of paint is a major part of the budget. Building roads and paving roads eats up most of the dollars. Painting is not just for Tesla AP, it's a vital safety factor.
I wasn't joking - you're correct. A more serious response to the indignant poster who thought I was advocating infrastructure spending to benefit a few rich people - is that I am not advocating that. I think most of us here believe this technology will be in the lowly Honda Civic in less than 10 years (or even less than 5) - it's coming for the masses. So if it is the case that better road markings would help autopilots make more accurate decisions - then better road markings would benefit everyone.
However I could be totally wrong on the technology side - I know nothing about machine learning and maybe the existing tech, along with high definition maps, will serve just fine. It was mere speculation on my part.
Also now that other people on the thread have enlightened me as to the complicated budgetary mess that is our road maintenance system - and reminded me of California's billions of dollars in other financial problems - I realize that my idea isn't feasible anyway.
Jool
Member
Totally agree with Caligula, as much as I'd like to have better lane markings in certain places the potholes are much worse. Seen a few that look like they'd eat the 21 inch wheels for breakfast *and* lunch!
In my experience, the lane markings have been fine for the most part anyway. There's only so much you can do for those white concrete freeways.
In my experience, the lane markings have been fine for the most part anyway. There's only so much you can do for those white concrete freeways.
Similar threads
