Live data from Hacker News

Waymo Premier

waymo.com

221–230 of 561 posts

Re: Waymo Premier

#221

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Be serious. Its not a class marker, its a nessesity. Even the poor have cars People clearly chooses the convenience and predictability of cars, and pay significantly to do so In places where there is greater convenience/predictability from pubilc transit, they choose it. See london/ny

It is also a class marker. I intentionally lived without a car in West Coast city as a younger man, and I learned to be very selective about whom I told. The vast majority of people would assume that the only reason for not having a car is not being able to afford one, and would judge me accordingly.

I have the same situation here. We live intentionally without a car, and our quality of life is fantastic. People assume poverty, given the lack of car, as opposed to I just don't see the value, and value controlling my time (the walks are force exercise, a win for me). I learned along time ago to not play other peoples games.

Re: Waymo Premier

#223

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It seems to me a lot of people just really don't like to be associated with public transit or anything associated with anything remotely underclass. It's a class marker to be driven around in an autonomous 6000lbs tank rather than move your legs a bit.

Wealthy people in NYC have no problem with the subway. When the service is better than alternatives people use it.

    > Wealthy people in NYC have no problem with the subway.
No trolling: I gotta ask: Is this humor? If so, hat tip. Else: "Wealthy people in NYC (Manhattan)" have a car and driver. They don't care about the subway.

What I do believe: People that earn 200K to 400K in NYC/Manhattan still frequently ride the subway to work. Why? They rent/buy an apartment on an extremely convenient subway line to their office. They are not quite rich enough to have a car and driver.

Re: Waymo Premier

#224

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That sounds more expensive than just owning a car.

Approximate monthly cost of owning a car in the city: Lease or loan: $350 Parking in city: $300 Car insurance: $180 Gas: $120 License/Registration: $42 (~$500 per year) Maintenance: $17 (~$200 per year) If you live in the city and you can afford not driving, please put that extra $1000/month into your brokerage or HYSA

If two Waymo rides per day is covering your driving needs, there's no way you're spending $120/month on gas. Also, car insurance in CA is a huge ripoff, but I still don't pay anywhere near $180/month for very thorough coverage on my ~$40k car. Believable enough otherwise though.

Re: Waymo Premier

#226
post #191

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don't tell me... you are a man? I guess so. How many middle class women and above want to ride SFMuni after dark? Few. The future of self-driving taxis is women (customers) who want to live in a big city, but don't want to ride mass transit, nor ride in a ride-hailing services (Uber, etc.) with a human driver... because most drivers are men.

I imagine that Uber can also be somewhat sketchy but with a different risk profile (getting into the car with a stranger, often a man, and needing to trust that they'll drive you to the right location), which means that self-driving taxis would be a potential safety upgrade over that as well.

1000%. Ask any women who uses ride-hailing services: Have you ever had a situation where the driver made you uncomfortable or fear for your safety? I would conservatively estimate 100% of women. I think men just do not understand how much women are willing to pay to guarantee they can avoid this situation.

Re: Waymo Premier

#227
post #220

If Waymo Premier includes an [EVASIVE MANEUVERS] button on the infotainment screen I'm in. I had a Uber driver block my Waymo at an intersection in SF some months ago just to be an asshole. Apparently some other people have been attacked and robbed while in a Waymo. Waymo should treat it like a security flaw that anyone can stop your car and there's nothing you can do about it.

I kind of assumed the car would be locked (from the outside)? Like most regular cars have the option to.

Do you think sitting inside you will be protected if someone has a gun?

Re: Waymo Premier

#229
post #207

If Waymo Premier includes an [EVASIVE MANEUVERS] button on the infotainment screen I'm in. I had a Uber driver block my Waymo at an intersection in SF some months ago just to be an asshole. Apparently some other people have been attacked and robbed while in a Waymo. Waymo should treat it like a security flaw that anyone can stop your car and there's nothing you can do about it.

As always, relevant xkcd: https://xkcd.com/1958/

We do have people with real incentive to not allow self-driving cars to succeed.

Re: Waymo Premier

#230
post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"the total average annual cost of ownership—which includes your car payment, depreciation, fuel, insurance, maintenance, and taxes—is approximately $12,297 per year (or $1,025 monthly) over a 15-year lifetime"

Can you explain where this comes from? I mean, that's not even close to what the norm is in Europe. Though, to be fair, we don't normally count fuel into TCO and the reasoning is: if you want to go distances then you are always paying for them. Whether it's public transport or taxis or whatever. Is fuel the major contributor in the number?

As an American I would also like to know... My actual expenses for my low end luxury car are nowhere near that high, and I live in CA which has massively inflated car expenses in practically all fronts.

Registration: $600/year

Insurance: $1,500/year

Gas: ~$2,700/year (15,000 miles @ 30mpg @ $5.50/gal)

Loan: ~$3,500/year if I had borrowed the entire price of the car on a 60 month loan and then kept the car for 15 years as the GP stated

Maintenance: Certainly less than $1,000/year, much less in most years.

And in some states registration and insurance could literally be a third of what I pay. Gas could easily be half. I can't imagine anyone is paying $12,000/year for any non-luxury vehicle.

Post reply on HN