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Waymo robotaxis are now giving rides on freeways in LA, SF and Phoenix

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Re: Waymo robotaxis are now giving rides on freeways in LA, SF and Phoenix

#141

Post by dboreham »

CPLX wrote: post #103
QuercusMax wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, that sounds like NYC nonsense. I assume it's still illegal to drive on the shoulder in New York.

Perhaps. But if you have a taxi or car service driver who's not willing to ever break any traffic laws in New York, you will not arrive at your destination in anything approaching a reasonable amount of time. For example, getting at the back of the line for an exit rather than trying to go to the front and cut your way in could be a multi-hour mistake.

Apart from not having to deal with a human, observance of traffic laws is the main advantage I see in autonomous vehicles. Once there are a decent proportion of them on the road we can ratchet up penalties against human asshole drivers, conviction aided by evidence gathered by the sensors on the surrounding non-human vehicles.

Re: Waymo robotaxis are now giving rides on freeways in LA, SF and Phoenix

#142

Post by cynicalsecurity »

ericmcer wrote: post #60
prismatix wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I had a similar experience. A few months ago, I was in the city for a weekend and took Waymo for most of my rides. The one time I chose to use Lyft/Uber, the driver floored it before we even had a chance to shut the door or get buckled! The rest of the time we took Waymo. I rarely use ride-sharing but other experiences include having been in a FSD Tesla Uber where the driver wasn't paying attention to the road the en…

It must be interesting being an Uber driver right now and literally watching the robots that will replace you driving around with you. This has been a 15+ year process and will probably take a few more years. I don't feel too bad if they didn't manage to pivot in that time period.

> It must be interesting being an Uber driver right now and literally watching the robots that will replace you driving around with you.

You mean just like programmers watching AI replacing them?

Re: Waymo robotaxis are now giving rides on freeways in LA, SF and Phoenix

#143

Post by CPLX »

crazygringo wrote: post #130
CPLX wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Perhaps. But if you have a taxi or car service driver who's not willing to ever break any traffic laws in New York, you will not arrive at your destination in anything approaching a reasonable amount of time. For example, getting at the back of the line for an exit rather than trying to go to the front and cut your way in could be a multi-hour mistake.

This is absurd, and it's a**hole behavior you're defending. You don't need to break any laws to get to where you're going, what are you even talking about? And you think that just because you're in a taxi you should get to magically cut to the front of a line of cars, made of the vast majority of New Yorkers who actually respect each other? What could possibly make you feel so entitled? And if you think waiting in li…

No, I don't think it's because you're in a taxi. I think everybody should try to cut to the front of the line. That's what everybody does in New York, and it works pretty well. It's pretty easy to understand what's gonna happen next.

I've lived in New York for longer than most HN posters here have been alive, most likely. A couple of times a year, I'll end up in a car with someone who doesn't understand how this whole thing works, and they'll do something insane like getting on the Brooklyn Bridge and then just staying in the right lane the entire time waiting to get off to the right. Or they'll sit on the BQE at the Flushing Avenue exit a mile back from the exit, causing me to waste large portions of my life that I will never get back.

Re: Waymo robotaxis are now giving rides on freeways in LA, SF and Phoenix

#144

Post by crazygringo »

jeffbee wrote: post #85
estearum wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> These sentances conflict. I recently took a taxi from JFK to Manhattan during rush hour, and I estimate if the driver didn't use all of the paved surface, it would have taken at least 10 more minutes to arrive. (And it wouldn't have been an authentic NYC experience) My hot take is that people who "use all of the paved surface" because their whiny passenger is "in a rush" (which of course everyone stuck in traffic i…

My hot take is that anyone who would take a taxi from JFK to Manhattan, along the most well-served transit corridor on the continent, is probably a psycho and we shouldn't ask for their input on transportation topics.

You do realize that public transportation doesn't provide luggage carts? That you can't take those out of the airport?

If you're traveling with a family or group, it really is often going to be much easier to take an XL Uber than deal with turnstiles and transfers and stairs and everything.

Re: Waymo robotaxis are now giving rides on freeways in LA, SF and Phoenix

#145

Post by alain94040 »

qnleigh wrote: post #138

A lot of people rely on Uber and Lyft for supplemental or primary income, so this could be very disruptive if it continues to scale. Are we not worried about this in the medium-term? Also I appreciate many of the random human interactions I've had with Uber/Lyft drivers. Of course not every ride was great, but many drivers had stories and experiences that no one I usually meet would have. For me, the safe but bland e…

To each their own. If you value human interaction, continue to book rides with humans.

Re: Waymo robotaxis are now giving rides on freeways in LA, SF and Phoenix

#146

Post by potato3732842 »

jeffbee wrote: post #20
s1mon wrote: post #10

How will Waymos handle speed limits on highways? In the city, they seem to stick to the rules. A large percentage of drivers in the bay area, including non-emergency police, drive well above the legal limit regularly. Unless Waymo sticks to the slow lane, it's going to be a weird issue.

If you watch the videos that insiders have been posting, it never exceeds the speed limits. If you watch the videos more carefully, you will notice the people who speed by at 85 MPH later enter the screen again, because that is the nature of freeway traffic. I predict that a few hundred of these on the road will measurably improve safety and decrease severe congestion by being that one sane driver that defuses stop-a…

The omnipresent threat of being splattered by someone who's weaving lanes or distracted by their phone and not expecting to see a vehicle doing 20mph (!!!!) below traffic speed is exactly what I want when I'm in a taxi. /s

If you actually thought adoption would benefit us on it's own rather than seeing it a roundabout way to enforce rules that you want to see enforced without buy in from the public you'd want these cars to behave in a way that makes it easier for them to exist in typical traffic.

Re: Waymo robotaxis are now giving rides on freeways in LA, SF and Phoenix

#147

Post by tick_tock_tick »

bronco21016 wrote: post #7

I don’t live in a served market yet so I haven’t yet tried Waymo. However I have used SuperCruise and BlueCruise from GM and Ford. What I’ve noticed from those other systems is that a human in the loop makes the system so much more comfortable. I’ve had times where I can see the red lights ahead and the system is not yet slowing because the car immediately in front of me isn’t slowing yet. It’s unsettling when the au…

> However I have used SuperCruise and BlueCruise from GM and Ford.

We had Waymo and Cruise in SF at the same time for a while and by god Cruise was shit and felt unsafe. Waymo is year ahead of Cruise and better in every manner.

Re: Waymo robotaxis are now giving rides on freeways in LA, SF and Phoenix

#148

Post by daemonologist »

vjerancrnjak wrote: post #69
holler wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I had my first waymo ride in Austin recently and it suddenly slowed down to 20mph in 40mph zone for 5+ mins before returning to normal speed. Cars were passing around us and it felt like the car was glitching out, which felt very sketchy.

I was doing this a lot in US whenever I’d see construction work speed limits and had similar experience. Realized no one cares about these custom signs.

Yeah it always wigs me out going through those super narrow "55 mph" construction zones on US highways. I'm not in a hurry and want to slow down, but if I did I'd have semis blowing past at 75 which feels even more unsafe. Honestly I think they should put up speed cameras.

Re: Waymo robotaxis are now giving rides on freeways in LA, SF and Phoenix

#149

Post by vinni2 »

ericmcer wrote: post #60
prismatix wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I had a similar experience. A few months ago, I was in the city for a weekend and took Waymo for most of my rides. The one time I chose to use Lyft/Uber, the driver floored it before we even had a chance to shut the door or get buckled! The rest of the time we took Waymo. I rarely use ride-sharing but other experiences include having been in a FSD Tesla Uber where the driver wasn't paying attention to the road the en…

It must be interesting being an Uber driver right now and literally watching the robots that will replace you driving around with you. This has been a 15+ year process and will probably take a few more years. I don't feel too bad if they didn't manage to pivot in that time period.

Actually i spoke a uber driver about this and he said he was waiting for cars with FSD available to buy then he could make his car work for him.

Re: Waymo robotaxis are now giving rides on freeways in LA, SF and Phoenix

#150

Post by potato3732842 »

aworks wrote: post #27
jeffbee wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you watch the videos that insiders have been posting, it never exceeds the speed limits. If you watch the videos more carefully, you will notice the people who speed by at 85 MPH later enter the screen again, because that is the nature of freeway traffic. I predict that a few hundred of these on the road will measurably improve safety and decrease severe congestion by being that one sane driver that defuses stop-a…

I was on 101 during evening rush hour, speeding along like everyone. Then I saw brake lights from a Waymo. Later followed by all the surrounding cars. Interesting that it was the first to detect a slowdown.

First to apply brake, not first to detect.

Normal human drivers tend to lift off the gas and only brake when they decide that just lifting won't do.

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