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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

#161

Post by Tade0 »

daemonologist wrote: post #148
vjerancrnjak wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

In my corner of the world it was the workers who demanded section control limiting speed to 70kmph in a segment of highway that was being renovated.

Authorities later said that they only went after 30% of the worst offenders, because otherwise the sheer number of tickets would be to high to process in a reasonable timespan.

Once word got out that the limit was actually enforced, speeds dropped. Now we have section control on some highways and personally I'm a fan, as I was always going around the speed limit anyway.

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

#162

Post by robocat »

iteria wrote: post #104
jjfoooo4 wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes. People do in fact safely drive the speed limit. If "we'll have too many cars on the freeway following the speed limit" ranks as a serious concern, I think we've really lost the plot. I recently drove by a fatal accident that had just happened on the freeway. A man on the street had been ripped in half, and his body was lying on the road. I can't imagine the scene is all that unlike the 40 thousand other US road…

It depends on where you are. There was a protest in in Atlanta about the speed limit. What did they do? They got in every. Single. Lane. As did the speed limit. This backed up traffic for miles. It stopped commercial delivery and had ramifications for entire area. The protesters were arrested. For going the legal limit. The speed limit did not change, but there is a reason why it's never enforced. I've lived in a cou…

I'd really love to see some good statistics on the risks of speeding on motorways.

I often wonder about laws that are ostensibly there to prevent dangerous actions, about whether they actually help prevent dangerous driving.

This guy analyses tailgating: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6n_lR09sjoU Awesome software although he seems biased (e.g. no mention of pedestrians), but he does say that tailgating is much more dangerous than speeding.

I'm interested whether cameras will start to catch dangerous drivers. I regularly seeing drivers do very dangerous things. Yet we have no easy way to train them (for those that care but are unaware), or catch them (for the antisocial that don't care).

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

#163

Post by [deleted] »

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.

[deleted]

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

#164

Post by sib »

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.

There are many, many, many airports to which it is easier to travel via public transit from their associated city than it is from Manhattan to JFK. For example, all of these global-top-25 airports have single-train access:

London Heathrow (LHR)

Tokyo Haneda (HND)

Amsterdam Schiphol (AMS)

Paris-Charles de Gaulle (CDG)

Frankfurt (FRA)

Dubai (DXB)

Seoul Incheon (ICN)

Guangzhou (CAN)

Shanghai Pudong (PVG)

New Delhi (DEL)

Madrid Barajas (MAD)

Beijing Capital (PEK)

Chicago O'Hare (ORD)

Denver (DEN)

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

#165

Post by QuercusMax »

CPLX wrote: post #135
QuercusMax wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"People should break traffic laws" is a very strange position to take.

I'm sure it is in places that are dominated by strip malls and tract housing. Here in New York City, we have a different approach altogether. I find it much simpler and more straightforward and easy to understand. You always know exactly what another car is about to do. They are going to try to get in front of you and try to get where they are going, while not caring if that helps you go where you're going. I never h…

I live in Portland where we generally drive like sane humans. Your insinuation that anyone who cares about driving safely is from a flyover state is frankly baffling.

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

#166

Post by QuercusMax »

renewiltord wrote: post #127
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.

Haha, this is both entirely true and entirely the reason why NYC is pretty much stuck where it is. If cities were parables, NYC would be The Parable of the Tragedy of the Commons. Globally, among cities I've been to it would have to be Delhi, but NYC is certainly in that category of South Asian cities where the infrastructure is far outpaced by the population and the population is like a swarming rat king constantly…

This just sounds like an argument to ban cars for private use and invest more in transit.

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

#167

Post by jessriedel »

superfrank wrote: post #94
LZ_Khan wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Waymo is overly conservative last time I checked. Driving the speed limit basically means getting to your destination twice as slow.

I've ridden in Waymos in LA, SF, and Phoenix. You're right about them being a bit conservative, but only in Phoenix did I feel like that really slowed my ride. In LA and SF there was so much traffic that even if cars pulled away from us, we'd catch them at the next red light.

I check Google maps ETA estimates when I get in a car in SF; they are accurate for Uber or Lyfts, but Waymos are absolutely slower there. This is especially, but not exclusively, true for routes where a human would take the 101 or 280, for obvious reasons.

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

#168

Post by blinding-streak »

GloamingNiblets wrote: post #118
xnx wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Highways are on average a much more structured and consistent environment, but every single weird thing (pedestrians, animals, debris, flooding) that occurs on streets also happens on highways. When you're doing as many trips and miles as Waymo, once-in-a-lifetime exceptions happen every day. On highways the kinetic energy is much greater (Waymo's reaction time is superhuman, but the car can't brake any harder.) and…

I don't have any specific knowledge about Waymo's stack, but I can confidently say Waymo's reaction time is likely poorer than an attentive human. By the time sensor data makes it through the perception stack, prediction/planning stack, and back to the controls stack, you're likely looking at >500ms. Waymos have the advantage of consistency though (they never text and drive).

It's actually a really interesting topic to think about. Depending on the situation, there might be some indecision in a human driver that slows the process down. Whereas the Waymo probably has a decisive answer to whatever problem is facing it.

I don't really know the answers for sure here, but there's probably a gray area where humans struggle more than the Waymo.

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

#169

Post by sib »

cortesoft wrote: post #30
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.

Luckily this won't be a problem in Los Angeles, because traffic prevents you from ever going over the speed limit.

Have you driven in LA? Traffic speed is generally bimodal: either stuck in traffic jam or easily 15 mph above the limit. (Source: live in LA, drive regularly.)

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

#170

Post by sib »

nradov wrote: post #112
cortesoft wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Luckily this won't be a problem in Los Angeles, because traffic prevents you from ever going over the speed limit.

It's hilarious to see people in LA buying sports cars. Like even if you're willing to risk a speeding ticket you won't be able to drive faster than the traffic in front of you. Just a status symbol, I guess.

A sports car on the roads through the Malibu hills is very fun...
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