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

blog.waymo.com

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

#241

Post by devoutsalsa »

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…

Waymo feature request: self-driving car waiting for a pedestrian for period of time, it screams "fool, I'm about to drive, so if you step in front of me, I'm driving right through your dumbass". Needs some little robot hands for deaf people. For those who simply aren't looking, it should use a water pistol.

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

#242

Post by groby_b »

StrictDabbler wrote: post #171
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…

I have never tried to spell the phrase "flip a youey" before. It might be the only word I use that I have never considered spelling, so I am grateful that you included it your comment. That said, I think you are wrong and it should be "uey", "uie," "u-ie," or any other spelling that emphasizes the "u" after which the term is named. Also "I do not know the answer but I am sure you are wrong" is the most internetish co…

If you believe the NYT crossword, it's spelled in whatever way gives you the right vowels on the right place ;)

But yeah, u-turn, not you-turn.

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

#243

Post by mlyle »

iinnPP wrote: post #117
JumpCrisscross wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> money to goal or is it a better society More people taking cheaper trips in cleaner vehicles is a better society in my book.

Absolutely. That is the today impact. What about when it's Waymo One or Uber Zero. Support is GPT7 Two. No call center jobs, no driving jobs, less supporting jobs, less money flow, more homelessness, more violence. Decreasing compensation for the jobs remaining due to increased competition. Short term profits go brrr?

I read your comment as:

"Let's make artificial fake work to make sure that people have something to do and money."

Hopefully we can do better than that.

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

#244

Post by AlotOfReading »

fallingknife wrote: post #197
jeffbee wrote: post #48

The Waymo approach has proven itself. Targeted testing, running the driver in hard mode as much as possible, is better than the Tesla approach. Tesla’s plan was essentially “machine learning underpants gnomes”. Collect ten billion miles of data from guys driving down 280 -> ??? -> profit. Didn’t work and now Tesla is recognized as being dead last in the game, behind dozens of no-name Chinese players. Now what I wonde…

Last based on what metrics? I've never seen anything better than the Tesla FSD except for the LIDAR robo taxis, but they are solving a very different problem with different constraints. Most recent cost estimate I can find shows a cost per vehicle of $130-150K for Waymo vs the Tesla system that needs to go in a vehicle costing $40-50K which makes using a Waymo style sensor suite impossible. Would be interesting to se…

Your numbers are very outdated. Exact figures and targets aren't usually announced, but both Waymo has talked about their upcoming vehicle being designed around a cost/mile ratio lower than consumer vehicles. That's not possible without very reasonable production costs. Cruise has also announced a target production price for their vehicle of $50k at scale, which is around the price of a new Tesla. That's not apples to apples, but it's close enough.

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

#245

Post by geocar »

seabass-labrax wrote: post #228
stouset wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'll contrast this with Cruise, which are driving autonomously in San Francisco. I hate them. At least in the area I'm in (the Inner Sunset), they often cruise around with no passengers while waiting for a request. While doing so, they circle around idling at 10-15mph, pausing for 30 seconds or more at stop signs. It's long enough where just when you decide they've completely stopped and start to go around, they "wak…

> Worse, in other areas like Fell St., they drive exclusively in the left hand lane while driving 15mph below the flow of traffic. Staying in the overtaking lane is against the rules in Britain; is that the case in California too?

"It depends"

https://www.mwl-law.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/SLOWER-TR...

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

#246

Post by Chathamization »

bobthepanda wrote: post #194
HALtheWise wrote: post #192

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I spouted this line for a long time, but was recently corrected by commenters pointing out that 2-3 occupancy electric cars actually beat the vast majority of subways and trains in practice, because you don't need to accelerate and decelerate every passenger at every possible stop. Cars are designed to be remarkably aerodynamically efficient, especially compared to motorcycles or bicycles, and an electric battery+mot…

In cities where space is at a premium, a bunch of people standing, or on a bicycle, will always beat out people sitting down with room for an engine and a trunk. Average occupancy of a car is 1.5 in the US, and that number shrinks as household size declines. (It’s also worth noting that there’s no reason that automated technologies wouldn’t also spread to buses and trains. In fact, you can already automate trains. Th…

> In cities where space is at a premium, a bunch of people standing, or on a bicycle, will always beat out people sitting down with room for an engine and a trunk.

It depends. For example, you can theoretically fit more people into crowded bike lanes than you can into crowded streets. But around here at least, bike lanes don't get a lot of people. I lived by one for years that I don't think I ever saw a bicycle on once. But even when not in use, all of that space is still being set aside for cyclists.

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

#247

Post by robotresearcher »

HALtheWise wrote: post #192
wolfram74 wrote: post #173

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From an energetics perspective it's incredibly hard to beat walking, biking or rails. If your occupancy on the car is reliably greater than 1, that is an improvement over single occupancy cars, but those boxes are just huge compared to a bicycle.

I spouted this line for a long time, but was recently corrected by commenters pointing out that 2-3 occupancy electric cars actually beat the vast majority of subways and trains in practice, because you don't need to accelerate and decelerate every passenger at every possible stop. Cars are designed to be remarkably aerodynamically efficient, especially compared to motorcycles or bicycles, and an electric battery+mot…

Driving in the city is not cruising. There are way more stoplights than subway stations.

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

#248

Post by gonehome »

mustacheemperor wrote: post #127
boulos wrote: post #40

For folks that are interested, the discussion at /r/selfdrivingcars [1] picked out some of the salient numbers. Brad Templeton also did his own write up at [2]. I mainly hope that people take away that this service exists now. You can download the app and just use it in Phoenix. As mentioned in the post, we're doing thousands of trips per week of non-employee rides. There are some great (and not so great!) examples p…

I really hope that I can get access in San Francisco soon. The closest grocery store to me in Bayview is a 30 minute walk across one of SF's riskiest pedestrian intersections and my neighborhood's only bus service is a corporate shuttle. Cruise just announced coverage for the "entire city" but it won't actually include my neighborhood. I've been well aware of Waymo for a long time, and been on the waiting list for ov…

Cruise’s “entire city” coverage is currently only for employees.

The beta coverage is sunset to pacific heights and only 10pm to 530am - making it effectively useless.

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

#249

Post by redox99 »

jeffbee wrote: post #48

The Waymo approach has proven itself. Targeted testing, running the driver in hard mode as much as possible, is better than the Tesla approach. Tesla’s plan was essentially “machine learning underpants gnomes”. Collect ten billion miles of data from guys driving down 280 -> ??? -> profit. Didn’t work and now Tesla is recognized as being dead last in the game, behind dozens of no-name Chinese players. Now what I wonde…

Proven in what way? As a way to lose money?

It's no surprise that it's easier to get to Level 4 if you have a 50-100k sensor suite, HD maps and a geofence.

However, I wouldn't be shocked if, even if Tesla robotaxis arrive many years later, Tesla achieves profitability before Waymo does.

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

#250

Post by Animats »

boulos wrote: post #202
HALtheWise wrote: post #190

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Constant HD video logging of everything going on inside and outside the car doesn't eliminate these issues, but it should do a lot to minimize them. If you're looking to do stagecoach robbery, I'm not sure why you'd pick the one car that will clearly record your face and license plate, and which is networked with hundreds of other cars to watch every second of your getaway.

And yet... https://www.fox10phoenix.com/news/caught-on-camera-teen-jump...

"The car, however, used its self-defense features to scare them off."

Just warnings and sirens. Nothing drastic, such as "Your Google account has been terminated for violating Google's terms of service".

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