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Waymo in Dallas

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Re: Waymo in Dallas

#741

Post by orwin »

latency-guy2 wrote: post #725
orwin wrote: post #591

Earlier quoted context omitted.

https://www.healthsystemtracker.org/chart-collection/u-s-lif... Think about it.

What do you think this link is proving actually? Its absolutely irrelevant to heat deaths, so nothing from either you or stratom lying.

Gp said that the way heat deaths were reported in Europe (statistical analysis: additional mortality during heatwaves) and in the US (individual analysis: autopsy) makes the two incomparable.

I'm just making a note about life expectancy in the US and in Europe (which are both calculated the same way). I admit I was in teaching mode, and should have been explicit instead. If heat deaths had an oversized effect on Europeans, you should be able to see it in the graphs in summer 2023 and 2025, and not in the US (to a certain degree: US have to catch up like 5 years, so it's not an apple to apple comparison, but close enough)

Re: Waymo in Dallas

#743

Post by jwpapi »

grim_io wrote: post #61
jwpapi wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m thinking that since 2015. Like BMW C1 just with doors on the side and a bit more security. This would approx allow 3-4x as many travellers on a given route compared to traditional cars.

A C1 with more security, meaning more material and air between you and a potential high-speed obstacle, is called a car and is sized like one.

Fair point.

I still think you could build single person cars that are more secure than traditional cars and use less space and energy

Re: Waymo in Dallas

#744

Post by ExoticPearTree »

Grombobulous wrote: post #618
infecto wrote: post #601

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Transit going to where. That’s the problem, you could build a new development that is transit oriented but where is it going? The average person in Texas does not want to transfer busses. Your comparison to Netherlands is rough because you are talking about a country that has a fairly mild climate and older cities that generally have density and not much sprawl. I don’t comprehend these examples. Also those cities ar…

I guess I should have expected these talking points to come back after posting a comment like that and I should have headed them off at the pass. If the Netherlands is the size of the Dallas metro area, then why isn't the Dallas metro area like the Netherlands? Dallas-Fort Worth has over 8 million people in it, it's not like it's a drastically smaller population than the Netherlands. This argument of "America has a b…

> Why don't people in Dallas want to transfer buses? I transfer buses all the time in my city, or transfer from bus to train. That doesn't mean it takes me a long time go get around.

Because taking a bus there is much more inconvenient compared to driving. And not all people take a shower, someone undesirable sits next to you and so on.

The thing is that different countries have different cultures. I live in a country where big cities have public transport and relatively narrow roads. I wish we had bigger roads where everyone drove its own car. I can do whatever I want in my car as opposed to sitting in a crowded bus.

Re: Waymo in Dallas

#745

Post by vel0city »

robomartin wrote: post #658
vel0city wrote: post #448

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're right, but that still puts the minimum at 1. Even with the many, many vehicles with single passengers as 1, the average is still always higher than 1. An autonomous vehicle doing a deadhead drive has a passenger count of 0. 0 A lot of these AVs at the moment at least are still roughly minivan/midsize SUV. On top of that, with safe distances adding another foot of the car to a highway scenario really doesn't in…

I don't necessarily disagree with you. I think single person AV pods would be amazing and is likely one version of the future. However, this kind of change takes time, a lot of time. AV or not, if you have to share the road with monster trucks being driven by humans who are too busy looking at pictures on their phones, well, you are going to eventually want to be in something at a similar scale. That's why interestin…

I wonder what the logistics and costs look like having to maintain a fleet of single-seaters along with multi-seater vehicles. I realize a high percentage of rides are solo rides, but there's still like 20-30% of rides with >1 passenger. Is it really easier for the transit companies to manage multiple fleets of vehicles with various seating sizes? Is it actually a better experience for riders?

> An automated cargo monorail operating down the middle of every highway?

There's already cargo freight rail practically all across the country. Loads on trucks are on trucks because of the desired flexibility and point to point response time as opposed to having to load/unload rail.

Also, unless you're talking some really long distances, having rail in the middle of a highway doesn't always make much sense. You're not going to have the depots or stations in the middle of the highway after all. The train then needs to weave back and fourth across the highway to get to the places its routed to. Far better to just figure out its own right of way rather than stick it in the middle of a complicated place.

Re: Waymo in Dallas

#746

Post by forgot-my-pw »

Zambyte wrote: post #216
arjie wrote: post #58

Surprisingly low hype for a company running perhaps the most advanced consumer-interactive robots. I’m quite fond of these machines and will periodically rescue them when someone has misused them (door not closed, most commonly). Hope they do well. Very good road participants.

I want trains.

Why not both!

We need to eliminate human drivers in the future. So the best solution should be both self driving cars and public transportation.

Re: Waymo in Dallas

#747

Post by conductr »

nunez wrote: post #731
conductr wrote: post #431

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I live just north of the service area in Dallas and cross into it daily, it’s been pretty great to see the traction it seems to be getting here. The service area is a great way to launch. It’s the fashionable part of town, covers most night life for young people, it’s created a buzz and a lot of people will jump onto it just as soon as they widen the service area. I’m sure it’s all a phased thing, Waymo overall has b…

The service area is definitely fashionable! Nonetheless, I do wish that Waymo added Plano to their service area. Between Legacy West, Frisco/Stonebriar, Old Town Plano, Garland and Richardson, this, selfishly, would have been much more accessible for work commutes and, in my opinion, would have seen more ridership from travelers on business. Oh well; maybe soon! (Somehow we lived in the DFW for five years and hardly…

I'm originally from Houston, but have settled in Dallas for my career/mid-life. It's hard to compare the two cities they are so different. The vibrant urban core inner loop of Houston has no comparison here. I miss it the most, and try to recreate it by trying to keep within the 635 "loop". Plano and HEB areas I know well, but avoid. I tried Colleyville and didn't like the distance. I try to keep 90% within 15 minute radius. In Houston, even in the loop, you it could take you an hour to get from say the Heights to West U. [It's the food I miss the most, DFW is bland midwestern to my Houstonian tastebuds.]

It's my take, that it's largely due to traffic, and although people in DFW complain - traffic here has no comparison to Houston traffic. People "easily" commute 40-50 or more miles one way. It's part of the Plano problem, if you lived in Plano an commuted to Legacy West, you are likely in the minority. Most Plano workforce, likely does not work in Plano at all. It's why 75 and DNT get traffic. Most of Plano jobs, likely held by non-Plano residents. The same story plays out everywhere here. In Houston, when I lived there, if you lived in Katy you pretty much stayed in Katy. Maybe you'd jump over to the Woodlands, or Sugarland, or go towards inner Houston on a weekend. The people that commuted downtown for work, the often woke up and drove at 4-5AM to avoid the traffic (they've added new roads since I lived there, toll roads that make this easier). But still, if you're on the West or North side or even in the Loop - dipping down to Galveston can be a significant road trip even though it's just ~50 miles from downtown. We simply don't have that kind of traffic in DFW. The commutes are long because traffic is light enough that people choose to live/work great distances away - then they complain about their commute/traffic. This is also why any type of fixed public transit won't work here, I think it has to do a lot with how the roadways are laid out differently - whole other rabbit hole I could go on about that, but DFW actually does do traffic a bit better than Houston which effectively unlocks the entire DFW area for people to use just like how you explained in your brewery patron example. I can't imagine a brewery in Pearland gets many visitors from the Kingwood or Woodlands or even Katy.

The urban core of Dallas is a failed experiment in my opinion. It's referred to as the Central Business District. And so, almost by definition, it's just office spaces. Covid hit it hard and it's slowly turning/gaining residential which will eventually bring back some life there. The nightlife in Uptown is very personality driven, if you're a preppy/posh type person you probably love it. It sounds like that's just not your cup of tea.

Re: Waymo in Dallas

#748

Post by robomartin »

vel0city wrote: post #721
robomartin wrote: post #654

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> Oh, yes, and I want to ride a Joby multicopter hailed using Uber to go to the major airports from local verti-ports. > And you think I live in fantasy land. Yes, you do. https://www.uber.com/us/en/newsroom/uber-air/ > So in just a few decades we managed to radically change the way people moved and lived. Which was an extremely radical change from how everyone lived and moved just a few decades before that. And yet…

This is a lot of words to ultimately agree with my core point. If we have the political will to do so, we can. It pretty much all boils down to that. If we don't have it, we can't do it. I agree, in most parts of the US we do not currently have the political will. I agree, building things and changing minds often takes time. But instead we've elected people who put people into power who thinks bike lanes are woke and…

> I agree, in most parts of the US we do not currently have the political will.

This isn't about political will. Politicians are whores, it doesn't matter what side, they respond to money and votes. This is worse than that, this is about people not being intelligent enough to vote with a view towards future benefits --decades away. Politicians buy votes by promising crap that the masses eat-up and never get. This nonsense is as old as time. This is precisely the kind of thing that destroyed nearly every nation in Latin America. And now idiot voters are pushing the US in the same direction with these bat-shit-crazy socialist/communist politicians gaining ground in various places. Americans will eventually learn, however, and sadly, this might require a few decades.

In that context, the whole mass transit conversation is so utterly insignificant it isn't even worth the bits we have wasted in this chat.

> bike lanes are woke

No, they are not woke, they are stupid...in certain cities. Some of the things I have seen are truly horrific. One of my own kids, who decided commuting to work on a bike was a good idea, nearly got killed twice. A year later he bought a car.

Once again, there's reality and fantasy. They are not the same.

>You flying on that Joby tomorrow?

If I could, absolutely. I've talked to people who would never get in a Waymo. I have, many times, also through Uber. Great experience. Progress.

> I hear They've been saying their air taxi service is coming next year for so many years now and are only supposedly just now starting FAA testing.

If you've never been involved in product development, manufacturing, testing and certification within a regulatory environment you don't have a real sense of just how hard and detailed these processes can be. Could it go faster? Sure. The point is, we probably don't really want them to in a case where safety is the top consideration. It will take as long as it will take.

> I wouldn't hold my breath for actual useful and anywhere near affordable service anytime soon.

Sure, but it will happen and affordability is relative. For example, it costs me $120 each way for an Uber to the airport that could take one to two hours to get there. If I drive my own car, I still get to eat two hours on the road and spend about $300 parking it at the airport. So, if I can buy a 30 minute Joby ride for $300 to $500 round trip, with Uber car pickup and drop-off included, sign me up!

Also, people use helicopters today and they are not at all cheap to fly. So this isn't like comparably-priced options are not out there. In fact, a Joby solution integrated into Uber is far more likely to democratize short-range air transport than anything else.

Re: Waymo in Dallas

#749

Post by toasty228 »

gilbetron wrote: post #612
toasty228 wrote: post #569

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They made it work in hong kong with buses/minibuses... it can work everywhere, as long as you try it a tiny bit. But no let's send billions to private company to add more 2500+ kg of metal that displace a single 70kg meatbag, such a waste of resources and energy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_light_bus

Hong Kong is around 5x the density of Dallas.

So what? One day the excuse is "it's too small", the next "it's too dense", the next "it's too large", meanwhile the 200 hab village next to mine in Poland has better bus coverage than the uni I attended in Los Angeles

Re: Waymo in Dallas

#750

Post by vel0city »

Grombobulous wrote: post #737
infecto wrote: post #629

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You keep drawing on this random anecdotes. Singapore is nothing like DFW. The best solution is progress that people will use. People are not going to walk around in the hot Texas sun across miles of frontage roads and nobody is going to rebuild the city to look like Singapore.

While I accept what you're saying about rebuilding an entire city, I also think what you're saying is effectively "there's nothing we can do." There's a huge gulf between doing absolutely nothing and accepting the status quo and refusing to change at all.

By all means please come here to DFW and convince the people of Frisco, Allen, and McKinney the folley of their ways and get them to agree to changing up things and adopt transit. Go tell them to allow the train lines to continue up their paths. Good luck! I've been trying to talk these people into it for over a decade. Most are afraid of "the wrong people" and are concerned about crime. Make of that as you will!

Go watch the ignorance of the Addison City council on how transit operates, and realize this is one of the allies of supporting transit in this area! Makes muh teeth itch!

https://www.reddit.com/r/Dallas/comments/1qdywz5/addison_cit...

Go see how the Dallas Mavericks and the Dallas Stars move away from their fine stadium right off a train station that's serviced by several different lines by multiple transit agencies for places with just limited bus services, and darn near everyone cheers it on as a good thing.

Things won't change if the people won't change.

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