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Waymo rides cost more than Uber or Lyft and people are paying anyway

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Re: Waymo rides cost more than Uber or Lyft and people are paying anyway

#171

Post by autobodie »

Animats wrote: post #132

Waymos will get cheaper to make as they scale up. The Ioniq version [1] costs less to build. All the sheet metal and mechanical mods for Waymo are done at the Hyundai factory in Georgia.[2] Waymo just mounts the electronics. Jobs at the Hyundai factory start at $23.66/hour, with reasonably good benefits.[3] [1] https://waymo.com/blog/2024/10/waymo-and-hyundai-enter-partn... [2] https://www.hmgma.com/ [3] https://care…

$23.66/hour in Savannah, GA in 2025 is a starvation wage. Savannah has a bad housing squeeze with very few apartments and they still cost nearly $2K/mo when you find them. God bless those poor souls.

Re: Waymo rides cost more than Uber or Lyft and people are paying anyway

#172

Post by Zak »

Workaccount2 wrote: post #139
greybox wrote: post #107

This doesn't surprise me at all. I work in the EU but recently the Americans we hire are very hesitant to have conversations with service providers. They will pay more to use a service that has an app, rather than call up another taxi company by phone for example (and it's not a language barrier problem, because everyone speaks english). I can see this extending to not wanting to have a driver in their taxi. I see th…

Years ago when I worked in the food industry, customers would voluntarily pay 20% more for the entire meal just to use the doordash app instead of calling us up. We informed repeat customers that they pay a premium to use 3rd party apps - they just kept using them anyway.

I much prefer ordering with a website to ordering on the phone, especially when ordering for several people. Many of the restaurants where I live now have their own websites.

Re: Waymo rides cost more than Uber or Lyft and people are paying anyway

#173

Post by lxgr »

Simply not playing Uber’s bait-and-switch game (happened again just yesterday: A purported $40 ride ended up being $80 due to being “unexpectedly 3x the planned distance”) would get them my business immediately once they become available in NYC for the very few times I do take a car.

Not marking up rides when there’s a gift balance on the account would also be a great distinguishing feature.

Re: Waymo rides cost more than Uber or Lyft and people are paying anyway

#174

Post by mdaniel »

lupusreal wrote: post #150
mdaniel wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I formally report it every time I'm in a car that has the deodorizer turned up to 11 because it makes me nauseous. My worst one was a 30 minute ride to the airport in LA - I thought about just having them pull over and ordering a replacement

Just say you feel carsick and want a window open for fresh air. They surely don't want puke in their car so they should be willing to oblige.

Oh I lean my head out the window like a dog, I am not their friend and give no fucks about offending them, but riding so long having to breathe in 65 mph wind just because a gas station toilet spilled in the car is a reportable offense

Re: Waymo rides cost more than Uber or Lyft and people are paying anyway

#175

Post by [deleted] »

rossdavidh wrote: post #118

The last time I got an Uber, it was driven by a young fellow who looked to be in his first year of driving (I could be wrong), the car smelled like mothballs and was obviously in poor shape, and he accidentally drove on the wrong side of a divided road for a block or so (he was apologetic). The last time I tried a regular taxi stand, the car looked even worse, and it broke down. So, we called Lyft, and the driver cou…

[deleted]

Re: Waymo rides cost more than Uber or Lyft and people are paying anyway

#176

Post by Simon_O_Rourke »

tempestn wrote: post #154

This makes a lot of sense to me. When you ride in an Uber or a taxi, you're a guest in the driver's space. In a Waymo, it's your own space. You can play music, talk on the phone, etc. without worrying about disturbing the driver. You're not likely to have strong odors, or driver's phone conversations. And the experience will be roughly consistent each time. In an Uber, you have no idea what the car or the driving sta…

Maybe it's my rampant misanthrope leanings, but even in more trivial things like choosing automated kiosks other staffed in CVS, I'm just more comfortable not having to make small talk with a person, worry if they're having a good day or not etc.

I'd happily pay 20 percent more to Waymo for that personless experience too.

Re: Waymo rides cost more than Uber or Lyft and people are paying anyway

#177

Post by PartiallyTyped »

ironman1478 wrote: post #151
oytis wrote: post #133

People are eager to pay money to not deal with other people. Which makes me pessimistic about the future of humanity given recent developments in AI really

Waymos are more pleasant to be in and people value comfort. I've had many Uber drivers who love to speed, which can be terrifying in SF. The bus can be a real crapshoot with who's on it. The bus also can take forever depending on where you start and where you need to go. The service that waymo provides is just on average better.

I've had many violent and borderline reckless drivers in my time in Poland. In the end, taking the tram was much safer and less stressful.

Re: Waymo rides cost more than Uber or Lyft and people are paying anyway

#178

Post by BurningFrog »

passwordoops wrote: post #156
Animats wrote: post #132

Waymos will get cheaper to make as they scale up. The Ioniq version [1] costs less to build. All the sheet metal and mechanical mods for Waymo are done at the Hyundai factory in Georgia.[2] Waymo just mounts the electronics. Jobs at the Hyundai factory start at $23.66/hour, with reasonably good benefits.[3] [1] https://waymo.com/blog/2024/10/waymo-and-hyundai-enter-partn... [2] https://www.hmgma.com/ [3] https://care…

>Waymos will get cheaper to make as they scale up. Meaning their profits will rise as they inevitably increase prices

There is plenty of competition coming to hold prices down.

Re: Waymo rides cost more than Uber or Lyft and people are paying anyway

#179

Post by rdtsc »

oytis wrote: post #133

People are eager to pay money to not deal with other people. Which makes me pessimistic about the future of humanity given recent developments in AI really

> People are eager to pay money to not deal with other people

I wonder if it's cultural. For instance I always hear how Japan has a lot of vending machines and am wondering if it's just pure tech advancement and efficiency at work, maybe lack of space to open a proper kiosk with a seller, or there is a cultural element of not wanting to "inconvenience" others having to interact with them.

Re: Waymo rides cost more than Uber or Lyft and people are paying anyway

#180

Post by ninetyninenine »

rossdavidh wrote: post #118

The last time I got an Uber, it was driven by a young fellow who looked to be in his first year of driving (I could be wrong), the car smelled like mothballs and was obviously in poor shape, and he accidentally drove on the wrong side of a divided road for a block or so (he was apologetic). The last time I tried a regular taxi stand, the car looked even worse, and it broke down. So, we called Lyft, and the driver cou…

This is amazing. Don't forget that by you doing this you're taking us one step closer to AI replacing not just the job of drivers but the jobs of all of us. Good sides and bad sides.

Hopefully we won't get there and only uber drivers are the ones screwed. Since you and I aren't uber drivers, we don't really care do we?

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