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Zoox robotaxi launches in Las Vegas

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Re: Zoox robotaxi launches in Las Vegas

#191

Post by Fricken »

Zigurd wrote: post #188
Fricken wrote: post #178

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>No consensus on the technology approach Waymo, Cruise, Zoox, Pony.ai, Baidu's Apollo, Argo.ai and Aurora all have/had very similar approaches to the technology. Tesla is the major outlier and they haven't accomplished much in spite of the hype.

I don't want to split hairs but I think the focus on sensors misses the point. There's a lot of diversity in terms of other on-board hardware, software architecture, and the role of geospatial data in the AV system. It's a product area that is very far from being able to horizontalize. Waymo Driver is going to run on Waymo hardware for a long time to come. Toyota is supposedly trying to use Waymo technology for perso…

>There's a lot of diversity in terms of other on-board hardware, software architecture, and the role of geospatial data in the AV system

I'm curious to know where you get information on stuff like this. The Google self-driving car project was fairly transparent in the early days but since things have gotten competitive everybody is pretty tight-lipped about the particulars of what they're doing.

Re: Zoox robotaxi launches in Las Vegas

#192

Post by 0x457 »

culopatin wrote: post #155
pfooti wrote: post #145

These little front-back symmetric buses (as well as engineering-outfitted minivans) are pretty common in the mission in SF as well. I see them all the time in a very small (four or so blocks around 16th and folsom where my pottery studio is) area, but I think they're all still just test driving. As a waymo user, I'm looking forward to a little more competition in the market. I quite like waymo, but driving price down…

The pricing wave Waymo went through is interesting. After the limited access you’d often find them offering same or cheaper rides than Uber/Lyft. People tried them and realized they arrive without the whiplash you get from a start/stop Tesla uber in SF, no smells, no weird interactions. Every person we talked to prefers the Waymo even with its quirks and getting stuck sometimes. Now waymo is 3x uber every time I chec…

I think it's just demand driven pricing. Ever since they went GA in LA I see them doing pick-ups and drop-offs all the time from my windows.

Re: Zoox robotaxi launches in Las Vegas

#193

Post by 0x457 »

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #74
leetharris wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am getting so unbelievably tired of this smug comment. It reeks of reddit spam. We all know trains would be nice. Unless you have some plan to rework our government into something that will allow for innovation here, then I prefer to see progress, even if it's not ideal.

> getting so unbelievably tired of this smug comment It's a dumb comment. But I find it interesting in how it reveals opportunities to leverage bridging expertise. The infamous Dropbox comment [1] illustrated the complete lack of domain knowledge in marketing, sales and generally how non-tech people work that was commonplace among coders. A lot of people made a lot of money, and made a lot of other peoples' lives bet…

Strip and Las Vegas from pure numbers POV are perfect for trains. However, it's also a place where you want to be in your private space with your friends rather than 20 other strangers, just for the sake of vibes.

However, before that problem is solved, maybe solve mass-transit from the airport to the strip first?

Re: Zoox robotaxi launches in Las Vegas

#194

Post by adrr »

barbazoo wrote: post #2

It’s a cute gimmick for tourists but it won’t contribute to public transportation.

Better than a tax that will take you on long route to your destination to get more money out of you. I don’t know how many times that has happened to me in Vegas. Had one drive downtown when I was going from Aria to Mandalay.

Re: Zoox robotaxi launches in Las Vegas

#195

Post by 0x457 »

yunyu wrote: post #12
barbazoo wrote: post #2

It’s a cute gimmick for tourists but it won’t contribute to public transportation.

Never understood this take. Just because it doesn’t address the systemic inequities in society doesn’t mean it’s not useful.

It's really no more useful than a taxi. It's better (in my opinion) than a taxi and ride-share, but it's no more useful at all.

Re: Zoox robotaxi launches in Las Vegas

#196

Post by jerlam »

SpaceNoodled wrote: post #164
jerlam wrote: post #131

I poked around on their site and read the press releases; Zoox seems to be limited to only pickups and dropoffs at a few set locations. > Simply open the Zoox app to take a ride from several destinations on and around the Strip. This puts it dramatically behind Waymo where I can walk out on any block in the coverage area and tell it to take me to any other block in the coverage area, not to mention Uber and Lyft. I'm…

The main issue in this case is that LV strictly dictates rideshare pickup/dropoff locations on the strip.

A lot of the more interesting things in Vegas are off the Strip, like Omega Mart or downtown. I was just there this year and after less than a day I saw no reason to be on the Strip.

Re: Zoox robotaxi launches in Las Vegas

#198

Post by badc0ffee »

a_t48 wrote: post #156
badc0ffee wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

San Francisco, too. I'm so glad for Uber. One downside to Uber in Vegas is that airport pickups happen in some hot parking garage far from the terminals.

I remember once going on the way back a work trip on a whim, and regretting not checking that the weather was >100 degrees. That step outside was an oven.

It's also kind of far and inconvenient to get to. It's like the inverse of those shuttles that take you from the arrivals loop of the airport to the ass end of the casino loading dock of your hotel (and 10 other hotels. So, unlike Uber, not even remotely worth it).

Re: Zoox robotaxi launches in Las Vegas

#200

Post by ryandrake »

OkayPhysicist wrote: post #159
PhunkyPhil wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It absolutely targets a problem that exists. Even in places with pretty great public transit, there is some demand for taxis/Uber/etc. Oftentimes even moreso, because if I don't need a car for 90% of trips, I might not have a car at all. So I use an Uber or a taxi when a certain trip demands it. This says nothing about self driving cars > So I'm not used to simply pretending this person I'm sharing a space with doe…

> I don't like the assumption you're making that Waymos are the only solution to ubers, taxis or driving yourself. Well designed and well working public transportation (Which is doable and exists in the world) is far cheaper and far more predictable than any form of car-based transportation. I very literally did not make that assumption. I pointed out, in a sentence you quoted yourself, that public transit can drasti…

Point-to-point is also the only option when you get way out of the city and no form of public transportation is work-able. If you live in the actual middle of nowhere, with miles between homes' driveways, and dozens of miles between residential areas and the nearest store, you're never going to get trains or bus stops that cover everyone's home.
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