Based on anecdotal evidence, I strongly suspect these are remotely driven cars, not completely self-driving, which means there is a remote saftey operator ready to take over if the ride starts to go bad. "Self-driving" sounds sexier and is the ultimate goal, but if it were my company I'd probably lead with "remotely monitored by safety driver" to calm any fears people might have. I'm guessing the percentage of people who are willing to put their lives in the hands of this tech is rather small and the percentage of people who don't trust tech is rather large.
Self-driving Waymos secure final clearance for expansion beyond S.F
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Re: Self-driving Waymos secure final clearance for expansion beyond S.F
#72Earlier quoted context omitted.
If they're really safer than human drivers, like the Google-funded studies claim they are, then this seems like a positive rather than a negative. Perhaps we humans should be slowing down and driving more carefully? But I'm not sure if we can trust these studies. I'd really like to see a completely independent evaluation, of how the safety of Waymo cars compares to human drivers, and to the safety other companies lik…
I agree that an independent study would be very useful to get a better idea of what's actually happening. That said, human drivers in the US are bad. We have the highest traffic crash rate among all developed countries by far. Pedestrian and cyclist crash rates have been increasing in the US, one of the only developed countries in the world that this is happening in. Much of the US remains opposed to automated traffi…
> And anecdotally it's common for friends to talk about driving 10-15 mph over the speed limit, and we know speed is the leading predictor for severity of a crash. Most US drivers, especially of higher income classes, are probably well aware that they speed and break plenty of other traffic laws on a regular basis and don't want to reckon with that fact.
Because 99 44/100 percent of the time, this is not a factor. The true threat is not someone going 10 over on the highway, it's the loons you see zooming ahead of everyone else going 20+ over, weaving like they're in a video game. Equally unsafe are the self-appointed speed police camping in the left lane doing 2 under (looking at you, Greater Seattle). This forces people to pass on the right to keep up the flow of traffic, which is much less predictable.
The correct answer is to keep right except to pass, keep your speed within reason (<10 over max in good weather), keep a decent following distance, and let the cops take care of anyone driving recklessly. If speed was so dangerous by itself, Germany would not have Autobahns.
Re: Self-driving Waymos secure final clearance for expansion beyond S.F
#73We recently started using Waymo more often: - Quality of Lyft and Uber rides have gone down significantly. - Consistently spacious, clean and quiet cars. You know what you'll get. - AC always works and not up to the whim of the driver. - No chatty driver to disturb our sleeping baby. Negatives: - Rides have usually 10% mark up over Lyft and Uber. - Pick up and drop off tend to be a small walk from requested locations…
> - Consistently [...] clean [...] I don't expect this to hold true once Waymo become generally available, alas.
I do. It'll be easier to keep the fleet on a cleaning schedule, and won't be left to the whims of individuals.
Re: Self-driving Waymos secure final clearance for expansion beyond S.F
#74Based on anecdotal evidence, I strongly suspect these are remotely driven cars, not completely self-driving, which means there is a remote saftey operator ready to take over if the ride starts to go bad. "Self-driving" sounds sexier and is the ultimate goal, but if it were my company I'd probably lead with "remotely monitored by safety driver" to calm any fears people might have. I'm guessing the percentage of people…
Wouldn't the fear just become that not enough safety drivers will always be available or that the internet connection they use to "drive" the car remotely would fail?
It's a taxi that you don't have to risk having a conversation with a stranger in. Outside of that it seems that all other benefits are marginal or well crafted illusions.
Anyways, I'm sure I'm just being a pessimist, it's not as if large monopolistic companies with no human customer service have failed us significantly before. I mean, I trust them with my data completely, so why not my life, too?
Re: Self-driving Waymos secure final clearance for expansion beyond S.F
#75We recently started using Waymo more often: - Quality of Lyft and Uber rides have gone down significantly. - Consistently spacious, clean and quiet cars. You know what you'll get. - AC always works and not up to the whim of the driver. - No chatty driver to disturb our sleeping baby. Negatives: - Rides have usually 10% mark up over Lyft and Uber. - Pick up and drop off tend to be a small walk from requested locations…
I'm curious why they can't pick up and drop off at exact locations, as long as the location is in their operating boundaries.
Human drivers are willing to break the law for pick ups and drop offs, and as a society we largely tolerate that as long as it's not egregious in terms of safety or blocking others.
But programming a robot to deliberately break the law is uncomfortable for people to think about.
Re: Self-driving Waymos secure final clearance for expansion beyond S.F
#76Earlier quoted context omitted.
> - Consistently [...] clean [...] I don't expect this to hold true once Waymo become generally available, alas.
I do. It'll be easier to keep the fleet on a cleaning schedule, and won't be left to the whims of individuals.
I have a good friend who's a Lyft driver. According to him, all drivers are rated on cleanliness by passengers; if you're dinged for a weird smell, there are lasting financial consequences (even if it was for reasons outside of your control, e.g. using a Lyft provided rental while repairing from a traffic accident).
We'll see how Waymo handles it! It will definitely be Waymo's problem to solve, though.
Re: Self-driving Waymos secure final clearance for expansion beyond S.F
#77We recently started using Waymo more often: - Quality of Lyft and Uber rides have gone down significantly. - Consistently spacious, clean and quiet cars. You know what you'll get. - AC always works and not up to the whim of the driver. - No chatty driver to disturb our sleeping baby. Negatives: - Rides have usually 10% mark up over Lyft and Uber. - Pick up and drop off tend to be a small walk from requested locations…
> You can choose a soothing music play list in the car and it automatically resumes in the next ride
Oh wow! There is a non zero chance that was implemented because of some feedback I provided as a trusted tester many months ago. I napped my son in them a lot when they were free and just spent my time thinking up things they should do and reporting them in app.
Re: Self-driving Waymos secure final clearance for expansion beyond S.F
#78We recently started using Waymo more often: - Quality of Lyft and Uber rides have gone down significantly. - Consistently spacious, clean and quiet cars. You know what you'll get. - AC always works and not up to the whim of the driver. - No chatty driver to disturb our sleeping baby. Negatives: - Rides have usually 10% mark up over Lyft and Uber. - Pick up and drop off tend to be a small walk from requested locations…
> Rides have usually 10% mark up over Lyft and Uber. Waymo says they are a premium service like Uber Black because they have nice cars (Jaguar I-Pace), plus the novelty and safety of being driverless. They’re not trying to be competitive with Uber X or shared rides for in their current form.
How nice is the backseat of a Waymo compared to an Accord?
Re: Self-driving Waymos secure final clearance for expansion beyond S.F
#79Earlier quoted context omitted.
> - Consistently [...] clean [...] I don't expect this to hold true once Waymo become generally available, alas.
I do. It'll be easier to keep the fleet on a cleaning schedule, and won't be left to the whims of individuals.
The metric will be "cost of time spent cleaning" / "cost of sending out a dirty car." If this ratio is > 1 the "recommended cleaning schedule" will be the lowest priority item in the entire fleet.
Re: Self-driving Waymos secure final clearance for expansion beyond S.F
#80We recently started using Waymo more often: - Quality of Lyft and Uber rides have gone down significantly. - Consistently spacious, clean and quiet cars. You know what you'll get. - AC always works and not up to the whim of the driver. - No chatty driver to disturb our sleeping baby. Negatives: - Rides have usually 10% mark up over Lyft and Uber. - Pick up and drop off tend to be a small walk from requested locations…
From my experience prices for Waymo are at least double that of an equivalent Lyft/Uber ride and wait times are usually 20+ minutes. It is a great novelty but nowhere near where it needs to be to handle real scale.