Waze Carpool • Hacker News Board

Re: Waze Carpool

#151

Post by blang » Thu, Jan 25, 2018, 5:20 PM UTC

Retric wrote: post #146

pron wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The same thing that happens in the non-Waze case: you kick them out, call the police, get mugged etc. It's not so simple. Normally people, at least in cities, rarely hitchhike or take up hitchhikers. The goal here is to make it acceptable, and naturally greatly increase the frequency this is happening. This can be reasonably taken as an endorsement by Google to the driver/passenger, because it is -- they want this…

Read up on DC slug lines. We are talking 10,000's of people doing this daily with very minor government support for the last 15+ years. Mostly awareness and signage. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slugging

I think it's more like 40+ years, ever since the HOV lane went in.

Re: Waze Carpool

#152

Post by 24gttghh » Thu, Jan 25, 2018, 5:24 PM UTC

Tiktaalik wrote: post #88

_m8fo wrote: post #19

Why isn't there a service that says: 1. Hey this is my route every morning. 2. Lets you see people's routes and "join". This doesn't need to be a centralized service. People could organize things among themselves. There are carpooling sites, but it requires a critical mass to be useful.

Why don't we hire a bunch of experts to figure out what the most common and efficient routes are for the most people and then hire people to run those routes regularly? Oops I just invented buses again, just the rest of these transportation startups eventually end up doing. The extremely boring answer to our transportation problems is to properly fund public transportation. We've known the solution for ages, but it's…

And the bus is really slow (many stops, multiple bus changes to get to a final destination, infrequent runs) compared to driving, and you don't get to choose who your fellow riders are. These are not my qualms, but the ones I hear most often as the basic reason why people hate on riding the bus. Money is certainly a factor, but it's not the whole story here.

Re: Waze Carpool

#153

Post by ryan-c » Thu, Jan 25, 2018, 5:26 PM UTC

pron wrote: post #90

cornholio wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The same thing that happens in the non-Waze case: you kick them out, call the police, get mugged etc. The pure software world exists from Google's perspective, they provide zero support and then it's just a matter of individual choice if you want to use the service or not. Google can go a long way into making this significantly safer than random pick-up: you can select female only drivers or riders, only riders from…

> The same thing that happens in the non-Waze case: you kick them out, call the police, get mugged etc. It's not so simple. Normally people, at least in cities, rarely hitchhike or take up hitchhikers. The goal here is to make it acceptable, and naturally greatly increase the frequency this is happening. This can be reasonably taken as an endorsement by Google to the driver/passenger, because it is -- they want this…

"Casual Carpooling" at least used to be popular - you can read about it here: http://sfcasualcarpool.com/

Originally, for the East Bay to San Francisco trips, cash would not exchange hands because the Bay Bridge toll was waived for carpools. Now that the carpool toll is $2.50, my understanding is that it's a little more awkward.

Re: Waze Carpool

#154

Post by blang » Thu, Jan 25, 2018, 5:28 PM UTC

dsmithatx wrote: post #20

dawhizkid wrote: post #12

The reason why I would not consider Google to legitimately compete with Uber/Lyft at scale in this arena is because it's not part of their nature to staff customer support at the level required to run operationally-intensive businesses. The rate in which something goes wrong in the real world (esp where money in exchanged) is much higher than in a pure software world, and Google is going to try to take the FAQ/chatbo…

This will probably be very cheap just to cover gas. They probably wont do customer support and tell driver/rider they are on their own. Since the rider pays up front they have their Identity and cash up front. I don't see Uber and Lyft competing against this service since the driver isn't going to make a living. On the other hand this will take a lot of rides from other ride share services.

It looks like it will at max be the government mileage rate to cover gas and depreciation (currently 54 cents)

Re: Waze Carpool

#155

Post by Frondo » Thu, Jan 25, 2018, 5:28 PM UTC

kamaln7 wrote: post #46

scandox wrote: post #13

I was in Israel last year and they just love Waze. Everything is Waze this and Waze that. They have an absolute belief in Waze as a brand. Most have no idea it is owned by Google, nor seemed very interested when I mentioned it. So I'd say if they can get this working anywhere, it will be in a traffic-riddled country full of people who obsess over journey times and who absolutely love this brand.

Can confirm. Just like "Kleenex" in some places, Waze has become the generic term for GPS Navigation here in Israel. Honestly, I have no idea why people still use it when Google Maps has an infinitely better interface and no ads.

In addition to what my sibling posters said, the crowd-sourced speed trap notices are awesome and very, very helpful for those of us that have to make long drives on the open road at times.

Re: Waze Carpool

#156

Post by virgilp » Thu, Jan 25, 2018, 5:30 PM UTC

Why don't they go global? I'm guessing "money exchanged" is the problem, but I'd happily give away that[+]. Give me a reason to trust the "carpooler" and that's all I ask. Heck, allow me to easily coordinate with my colleagues, and that'd still be a gain.

[+] I don't care for the money, in the grand scheme of things you earn nothing from this, I'd rather have the gratitude of the rider; In fact, that's how I do it today when I pick a hitchhiker, I never take their money anyway.

Re: Waze Carpool

#157

Post by blang » Thu, Jan 25, 2018, 5:30 PM UTC

NotSammyHagar wrote: post #34

In Seattle or other cities where traffic congestion is such a problem, I'd take someone for free if I could drive in the carpool lanes. I can even imagine someone who could be paid for just being a body in the car by someone really well off.

Have you looked into king county ride share?

http://www.rideshareonline.com

Re: Waze Carpool

#158

Post by samstave » Thu, Jan 25, 2018, 5:31 PM UTC

pavel_lishin wrote: post #54

cornholio wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unlike Uber, they appear to talk about a real carsharing system, as opposed to a taxi service with a lower entry barrier. The prices will be much lower since we are talking about the marginal cost of adding another passenger to an already happening trip - and with full info on where people are going, Waze effectively has an endless supply of trips that are happening, it's just a matter of displaying a pop-up "Hey, Al…

You just described the pure software world solution. What happens when the commuter I pick up vomits in my car? Or steals something from my car? What happens if I get picked up by a person who changes their mind about where they're going? Or decide to take an unplanned detour to go to the store, or back home to grab the laptop they forgot, or to score some heroin? What happens when the driver gropes me? Or I grope th…

Wow what a skit!

Oh hai! I’m going to the city center!

Ooooh what a nicer phone charger than I have

Oh shoot I forgot my laptop can we go back it will only take a second

OH! I forgot - please stop at 123 B street - don’t worry it’s on the way... this will only take a sec!

Wait! I said I was going to Blake square, but now I’m going to jack square! - I’m so sorry, but don’t worry I’ll rate you five stars!

Re: Waze Carpool

#159

Post by Splines » Thu, Jan 25, 2018, 5:32 PM UTC

kamaln7 wrote: post #46

scandox wrote: post #13

I was in Israel last year and they just love Waze. Everything is Waze this and Waze that. They have an absolute belief in Waze as a brand. Most have no idea it is owned by Google, nor seemed very interested when I mentioned it. So I'd say if they can get this working anywhere, it will be in a traffic-riddled country full of people who obsess over journey times and who absolutely love this brand.

Can confirm. Just like "Kleenex" in some places, Waze has become the generic term for GPS Navigation here in Israel. Honestly, I have no idea why people still use it when Google Maps has an infinitely better interface and no ads.

Google maps has ads, it's just not so in-your-face as Waze is. Search for stuff and depending on the topic the result list will have an item with a purple "Ad" tag on it (I searched for "tires" and got a hit for a tire store tagged as an ad).

I agree that gmaps has a better interface, at least for routing. I vastly prefer the alternative routes implementation on gmaps (it's right on the map). In waze I need to click through a few screens, which isn't practical when I'm driving. In gmaps I can glance at the map and make a decision without touching the phone at all.

Re: Waze Carpool

#160

Post by lg » Thu, Jan 25, 2018, 5:37 PM UTC

saalweachter wrote: post #29

lg wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I had problems with my google home mini controlling my android tv and went to the help page for it. A chatbox appeared and for about an hour a support agent talked me through various things to try (the only thing that worked was factory data reset on the TV). Pretty sure it was not a bot, unless they've gotten really good.

If it was a bot, would you be mad?

no, I'd be pretty impressed.