Imagine if instead Miami built MetroRail extensions to the beach and everywhere else it should go, increased TriRail frequency and express services, built a real network of fully segregated greenways etc etc. It would turn transport nightmare into transport heaven. We don't need more cars on the streets of Miami or the I95...
Next stop: Miami
61–70 of 319 posts
Re: Next stop: Miami
#62Earlier quoted context omitted.
At the end of the day that isn’t a technical problem but a unit economics one. Removing the driver from a taxi doesn’t bring down costs that much . Self driving cars aren’t going to change the uber/taxi model at a fundamental level. They have a finite fleet that they need to deploy. Urban centers mean that fleet utilization is high, and relatively less time and miles are spent driving with no one on board. In rural a…
Removing the driver does allow for single occupant models that could be significantly cheaper (reduced materials, smaller battery - assuming they'll all be EVS). It will be interesting to see how things develop once the driver is no longer required and cost is the most important factor (after safety). Exciting times!
We already have single occupant vehicles that are low cost and fun to use: bicycles and e-bikes. They are very popular in areas where safe infrastructure is available.
Re: Next stop: Miami
#63This is important if nothing else because Miami sees much more rain than SF and Phoenix: Miami: 57 in. ( https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/us-climate-normals/#dataset... SF: 25 in. ( https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/us-climate-normals/#dataset... ) Phoenix: 7 in. ( https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/us-climate-normals/#dataset... )
Also relevant, when it rains in Miami during the summer, it pours . As in, zero visibility for 15-30 minutes, then it's past. So if it can handle Miami tropical rain, it should be okay with all sorts of normal rain. Out of curiosity, what's Waymo's current production sensor suite mix? I'd assume lidar and radar would also be very unhappy with the surrounding space suddenly being ~10%(?) liquid water droplets.
Far less than 10%. During a heavy downpour, by volume, about one part in a million is liquid. In a cubic meter of heavily rain, there are only a few tens of raindrops.
Re: Next stop: Miami
#64This is important if nothing else because Miami sees much more rain than SF and Phoenix: Miami: 57 in. ( https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/us-climate-normals/#dataset... SF: 25 in. ( https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/us-climate-normals/#dataset... ) Phoenix: 7 in. ( https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/us-climate-normals/#dataset... )
Interesting random fact: when it rains, waymo turns on the windshield wipers
Is this relevant? Are any of its cameras/sensors behind the windshield? Or are there wipers directly on the external cameras?
Re: Next stop: Miami
#65Earlier quoted context omitted.
Also relevant, when it rains in Miami during the summer, it pours . As in, zero visibility for 15-30 minutes, then it's past. So if it can handle Miami tropical rain, it should be okay with all sorts of normal rain. Out of curiosity, what's Waymo's current production sensor suite mix? I'd assume lidar and radar would also be very unhappy with the surrounding space suddenly being ~10%(?) liquid water droplets.
I would expect service to be canceled while it is pouring down. Do we have reasons to believe that they have the ability to ride safely during heavy rain? I haven't been keeping up.
If it's too dangerous for humans to drive (regardless of whether they do anyway, humans do all manner of things which are unacceptably dangerous) then I don't expect Waymo to offer service even if they believe they technically could have the Waymo driver [their software] continue to deliver service.
Re: Next stop: Miami
#66Earlier quoted context omitted.
Also relevant, when it rains in Miami during the summer, it pours . As in, zero visibility for 15-30 minutes, then it's past. So if it can handle Miami tropical rain, it should be okay with all sorts of normal rain. Out of curiosity, what's Waymo's current production sensor suite mix? I'd assume lidar and radar would also be very unhappy with the surrounding space suddenly being ~10%(?) liquid water droplets.
I would expect service to be canceled while it is pouring down. Do we have reasons to believe that they have the ability to ride safely during heavy rain? I haven't been keeping up.
They can handle heavy rain, see time 6:00: https://youtube.com/watch?v=Bm1A3aaQnh0
From their August 2023 blog post:
> During this past winter season in California with its record rain, high winds, and thunderstorms, we were able to maintain 99.4% fleet uptime
Re: Next stop: Miami
#67our service – which already provides over 150,000 trips per week across Phoenix, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Austin Interesting. That's about 8 million rides per year. I wonder how close they are to being profitable? As soon as they are getting close to being profitable, they will probably scale this up super fast. I don't know how much Google invested into Waymo so far. Something like $10B? If they at some point…
The number of trips increased 10x from Sep 2023 to August 2024.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/california/article/waymo-robotax...
Re: Next stop: Miami
#68This is important if nothing else because Miami sees much more rain than SF and Phoenix: Miami: 57 in. ( https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/us-climate-normals/#dataset... SF: 25 in. ( https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/us-climate-normals/#dataset... ) Phoenix: 7 in. ( https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/us-climate-normals/#dataset... )
Waymo can handle heavy rain, see time 6:00 here: https://youtube.com/watch?v=Bm1A3aaQnh0
And yet I regularly get stuck behind a Waymo in SF when there's just a little bit of fog.
Re: Next stop: Miami
#69I feel like at this point someone needs to take a step back and think about the general vision and overall goals of this whole fully automated ride-hailing service thing. I mean, what is the exact problem that's being solved here? I don't mean "problem" like "solving the technical problem of making a car move autonomously in a chaotic city" sense. I mean what is the need that's being addressed here, exactly? Ride-hai…
As I see it, the biggest goal is safety - self-driving cars seem to reduce accidents per distance driven by at least one order of magnitude.