Live data from Hacker News

Waymo for Business

waymo.com

21–30 of 83 posts

Re: Waymo for Business

#21
“Meet Sustainability Goals: Waymo’s fully electric fleet helps organizations advance their sustainability targets”

Taking a private taxi to commute to work or school is easily the worst thing you can do environmentally in a city. Doesn’t really matter that you’re not burning dinosaur juice.

Re: Waymo for Business

#22

“Meet Sustainability Goals: Waymo’s fully electric fleet helps organizations advance their sustainability targets” Taking a private taxi to commute to work or school is easily the worst thing you can do environmentally in a city. Doesn’t really matter that you’re not burning dinosaur juice.

Especially when I'm guessing a lot of these "urban tech worker" commutes are mostly on surface streets or congested highways barely moving any faster. In my experience cycling to work I am actually faster on the bike than when I take the car. This is mostly due to filtering to the front of the intersection effectively eliminating any and all effects of rush hour traffic. Another huge factor is I can also park the bike directly in front of the door to the building, no having to walk from a designated parking or drop off zone.

Re: Waymo for Business

#23

This is really exciting news! I think many tech companies would be interested in this service as it's a huge perk if you make your people commute into work. I mean how many people drive for 30 to 60 minutes just to get to work in or already a bit stressed out because of the drive. But second, wouldn't it be cool if places that serve alcohol could have a whole bunch of these codes to hand out! If somebody looks a bit…

Plenty of workplaces reimburse for ubers right now

Re: Waymo for Business

#24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I guess by "legacy public transportation systems" you're thinking buses? GoA 4 trains exist today. GoA 3 is usually more practical and is widely used today. So Waymo would be very late to that and have all the wrong technology stack. But sure, there could be room for the Waymo Driver driving a bus, that may not make as much sense as you imagine but anything is possible.

> there could be room for the Waymo Driver driving a bus Remove the driver from the equation and modern buses are oversized, particularly in a region with rail transportation.

That depends a lot on where you are. Even with BART running beneath, the 125 capacity articulated buses running every 2 minutes along Mission St in San Francisco are pretty packed at rush hour.

For shorter journeys not having to walk as far to, go down into and up from rail stations can make up for the slower speeds.

Re: Waymo for Business

#25

“Meet Sustainability Goals: Waymo’s fully electric fleet helps organizations advance their sustainability targets” Taking a private taxi to commute to work or school is easily the worst thing you can do environmentally in a city. Doesn’t really matter that you’re not burning dinosaur juice.

That doesn't seem right. Taking your own car, which you park at both ends of the trip, is clearly worse from a vehicle utilization and land use standpoint. A Waymo that takes a dozen trips a day and never parks on the street seems obviously superior.

Re: Waymo for Business

#26
post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Filling the roads with single person occupancy vehicles is not a replacement for "legacy public transportation".

GP said upgrading, not replacement. Bus or train currently can’t do last mile. Without a viable option people may opt for cars instead of bus or train. This will help, not replace, public transportation. It may make bus/train more popular.

A 5000lb car to move a <200lb person is a terrible last mile option. There has never been a better time for last mile options than today. On the train I see all sorts of bikes, ebikes, escooters, and skateboards being used.

Re: Waymo for Business

#27

“Meet Sustainability Goals: Waymo’s fully electric fleet helps organizations advance their sustainability targets” Taking a private taxi to commute to work or school is easily the worst thing you can do environmentally in a city. Doesn’t really matter that you’re not burning dinosaur juice.

[dead]

Re: Waymo for Business

#28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I guess by "legacy public transportation systems" you're thinking buses? GoA 4 trains exist today. GoA 3 is usually more practical and is widely used today. So Waymo would be very late to that and have all the wrong technology stack. But sure, there could be room for the Waymo Driver driving a bus, that may not make as much sense as you imagine but anything is possible.

> there could be room for the Waymo Driver driving a bus Remove the driver from the equation and modern buses are oversized, particularly in a region with rail transportation.

Get the perfect storm of just three wheelchair users and your standard bus is no longer so oversized seeming.

Re: Waymo for Business

#30
post #22

“Meet Sustainability Goals: Waymo’s fully electric fleet helps organizations advance their sustainability targets” Taking a private taxi to commute to work or school is easily the worst thing you can do environmentally in a city. Doesn’t really matter that you’re not burning dinosaur juice.

Especially when I'm guessing a lot of these "urban tech worker" commutes are mostly on surface streets or congested highways barely moving any faster. In my experience cycling to work I am actually faster on the bike than when I take the car. This is mostly due to filtering to the front of the intersection effectively eliminating any and all effects of rush hour traffic. Another huge factor is I can also park the bik…

I would be 90% sweat if I biked to work. Would need a shower and change
Post reply on HN