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Waymo is opening its driverless service to more people in Phoenix

blog.waymo.com

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Re: Waymo is opening its driverless service to more people in Phoenix

#11

Post by kfarr »

jpm_sd wrote: post #10
oh_sigh wrote: post #8

Is Phoenix because self driving cars can't handle any kind of inclement weather? Or is there some other reason to choose Phoenix over Denver or Milwaukee?

Both the geophysical climate and the regulatory climate are favorable in AZ. https://azdot.gov/motor-vehicles/professional-services/auton...

And the roadways are homogenous with relatively new, large simple grids enabling large roadways, clear signage and striping, etc. Unlike a dense complicated old grid style city.

Re: Waymo is opening its driverless service to more people in Phoenix

#12

Post by jowday »

Judgmentality wrote: post #2

https://blog.waymo.com/2020/10/waymo-is-opening-its-fully-dr... > We’ll start with those who are already a part of Waymo One and, over the next several weeks, welcome more people directly into the service through our app So...this is just an extension of what they currently do where it's not really open to the public? Waymo One is something you have to apply for and almost nobody gets in. It's not clear to me what "w…

They state the date pretty clearly in the article.

>Beginning today, October 8, we’re excited to open up our fully driverless offering to Waymo One riders. Members of the public service can now take friends and family along on their rides and share their experience with the world.

Re: Waymo is opening its driverless service to more people in Phoenix

#14

Post by nemonemo »

Judgmentality wrote: post #2

https://blog.waymo.com/2020/10/waymo-is-opening-its-fully-dr... > We’ll start with those who are already a part of Waymo One and, over the next several weeks, welcome more people directly into the service through our app So...this is just an extension of what they currently do where it's not really open to the public? Waymo One is something you have to apply for and almost nobody gets in. It's not clear to me what "w…

> We expect our new fully driverless service to be very popular, and we’re thankful to our riders for their patience as we ramp up availability to serve demand.

I think this explains the reasoning behind the gradual ramp-up. Even at the product launch like new iPhones, the demand is difficult to estimate, so IMO it seems more responsible to give a reasonable expectation to the public like this, than just saying bravely "the service is fully public from today".

I think the take-away from this announcement is their commitment for wider rollout over time from this point on.

Re: Waymo is opening its driverless service to more people in Phoenix

#15

Post by holidayacct »

I know everyone loves the idea of self-driving cars but the reality of self-driving cars is really ugly. We need repetitions driving vehicles in order to operate them effectively. If you don't have enough repetitions driving a vehicle when something goes wrong you're not going to be able to operate the vehicle at all.

Furthermore, I'm skeptical that driverless vehicles can factor in all the ways in which someone might maliciously cause accidents or damage to these vehicles. I want to see what happens when someone figures out how to provide false input to the sensors on the vehicle.

Re: Waymo is opening its driverless service to more people in Phoenix

#17

Post by duffpkg »

oh_sigh wrote: post #8

Is Phoenix because self driving cars can't handle any kind of inclement weather? Or is there some other reason to choose Phoenix over Denver or Milwaukee?

Arizona in general and the metro phoenix area have extraordinarily diligent road maintenance. Surface street speeds are higher and larger road sizes are also very favorable for something like robot cars.

Re: Waymo is opening its driverless service to more people in Phoenix

#18

Post by dmd »

kfarr wrote: post #11
jpm_sd wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Both the geophysical climate and the regulatory climate are favorable in AZ. https://azdot.gov/motor-vehicles/professional-services/auton...

And the roadways are homogenous with relatively new, large simple grids enabling large roadways, clear signage and striping, etc. Unlike a dense complicated old grid style city.

Or, say, Boston. https://i2.wp.com/geoffboeing.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09...

Re: Waymo is opening its driverless service to more people in Phoenix

#19

Post by lhorie »

Judgmentality wrote: post #2

https://blog.waymo.com/2020/10/waymo-is-opening-its-fully-dr... > We’ll start with those who are already a part of Waymo One and, over the next several weeks, welcome more people directly into the service through our app So...this is just an extension of what they currently do where it's not really open to the public? Waymo One is something you have to apply for and almost nobody gets in. It's not clear to me what "w…

Would it be too cynical to assume this whole thing is going to get shutdown after a few years due to failing to gain enough traction (due to people being wary of Google's track record of doing so with their in-google properties)?

Re: Waymo is opening its driverless service to more people in Phoenix

#20

Post by dougmwne »

Pretty misleading title, but I think this is not an expansion of Waymo to the general public, but a getting rid of the safety drivers for some people participating in the closed-invite only preview but no longer under NDA. Seems like another incremental step forward. Google turned off the PR firehouse on Waymo over the past year, so I think many were starting to think the tech had hit a wall and wasn't ever going to be able to get rid of the safety driver. I suppose this makes me cautiously optimistic. I don't think self driving needs to handle all roads in all conditions to be economically useful.
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