Waymo One doubles service area in Phoenix, continues growing in SF

Post by jamiek88 » Fri, May 05, 2023, 9:35 PM UTC

ajcp wrote: post #122

austinkhale wrote: post #5

I live inside the original area in Phoenix where they did their training. I have to give kudos where it's due. I originally _hated_ their cars constantly driving around our neighborhood, but I was persuaded to try one a few weeks back. It completely changed my mind. They are now my favorite way to get around. I am a very happy, frequent customer and hope they keep adding coverage and more cars. This is absolutely the…

I live downtown PHX (Roosevelt Row) and beyond riding in them I MUCH prefer them driving around on the streets than actual human drivers. There isn't a day goes by that I don't see drivers make up 4-way stops, disregard the 4-way stops, flip a youey in the middle of an intersection, etc. Contrast that to the ever predictable Weymo, just quietly going about their little self-driving existence. Only problem I've seen w…

Post by jeffbee » Fri, May 05, 2023, 9:37 PM UTC

paxys wrote: post #75

hnburnsy wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The baby steps makes sense, but you gotta admit Phoenix has to be thr easiest metro area to test with: Little inclement weather, little terrain change, newer infrastructure, streets mostly laid out in an east-west, north-south grid with consistent naming and numbering.

Waymo and Cruise have also been operating in San Francisco for a while, which is quite the opposite.

Post by cyberax » Fri, May 05, 2023, 9:43 PM UTC

mechagodzilla wrote: post #30

ijustlovemath wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The difference is that the variable costs are much lower - just recharging the EV + any other incidentals, as opposed to having to pay a driver for every ride. That's why Uber never became profitable, because they had to share the fare. Waymo has higher up front costs, but if the cars are there, they have much more profitable fares.

Maybe - Waymo has to recharge, clean and maintain a fleet of cars that they own (and which are depreciating and likely have no resale value, at least at the moment) - Uber's drivers effectively use their wages to cover all of those costs. I'm curious how Waymo is handling all of the fleet maintenance, recharging, cleaning, etc, and how they plan to scale that infrastructure. I also wonder how Waymo plans to handle 's…

Post by dekhn » Fri, May 05, 2023, 9:43 PM UTC

jamiek88 wrote: post #141

ajcp wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I live downtown PHX (Roosevelt Row) and beyond riding in them I MUCH prefer them driving around on the streets than actual human drivers. There isn't a day goes by that I don't see drivers make up 4-way stops, disregard the 4-way stops, flip a youey in the middle of an intersection, etc. Contrast that to the ever predictable Weymo, just quietly going about their little self-driving existence. Only problem I've seen w…

>they will cross it will stop and wait until the heat-death of the universe for them to cross. There's something adorable and HHGTG about that whole thing! Reminds me of the robotic Star Liner that refused to take off because of the peanuts hadn't been delivered thus its checklist was incomplete. It had waited eons as its passengers withered to corpses securely locked into the cabin only stating that it was 'statisti…

Post by dekhn » Fri, May 05, 2023, 9:49 PM UTC

inferiorhuman wrote: post #112

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Imagine sinking all that money that's being blown on self-driving cars into pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure This does jack squat for getting across San Francisco or from corner to corner of Phoenix.

You can already bike from one part of SF to another, investment in bicycle infrastructure would make that easier and safer. Or, you know, public transit. Individual vehicles suffer from massive inefficiency compared to nearly any other form of transportation – look at Elon's fully autonomous tunnel.