Originally Posted by
cooker
Having self driving vehicles deliver food out on "the trail" and pick you up if you run into trouble, may be a way of not bothering people, but it's going to be awfully expensive. Why not work with what's already available? Plan your hikes to pass by existing resources like towns, resorts and truckstops (where they're accessible by foot), and to cross bus and rail lines. If you're too far off road a self driving vehicle won't be able to get to you anyway, so follow established trails where other hikers or cyclists can stop and help you and you can reciprocate as needed.
I am not sure how people feel about hiking trails in Canada but even in California hiking is designed to be pretty primitive. The PC 2000 trail runs through most of the state. They aren't likely to take kindly to installing washing machines and showers in such an area nor the service roads needed to service them.
https://www.fs.usda.gov/pct/
The Florida Trail system seems somewhat the same even if it is a bit smaller with 1400 miles.
I used to hike a lot when I was still in college and I learned that dry food was lighter and easier to get the necessary calories. I go pack a weeks worth of food something like MREs and make arrangements to be resupplied at trail heads along the way. A light weight back packing tent was a must. We didn't have cell phones but even today reception can be spotty. In my case it did require the help of friends, family and fellow hikers looking for a favor sometime in the future.
My biggest question would be who would fund putting washing machines on hiking trails and showers for that matter. Plumbing would pretty much be prohibitive so water delivery would seem to be the only option left open. Getting funding for the maintenance workers and service people might be hard. Camping is already allowed in camping areas and they are cleared for that specific purpose. In my state you need a permit and the Forest service checks.