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How Waymo outlasted the competition and made robo-taxis a real business

fortune.com

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Re: How Waymo outlasted the competition and made robo-taxis a real business

#21

Post by cut3 »

robotnikman wrote: post #9
xvedejas wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They're the present here in SF, driving every day and more safely than the humans do. And as a human driver, I can testify that these streets are not particularly easy to drive on.

They are here in the Phoenix area too and I have not seen and issues with them. However, we are blessed by sunny weather 99% of the time. I think the biggest challenges will be having them drive in adverse weather conditions present throughout the rest of the country, such as blizzards, hail, torrential rain, dense fog.

Oh they have issues. Waymos are super janky when they are in parking lots, often just sitting in the middle of the driving lane waiting for their fare. I dont think they know how to park in a lot correctly.

It is also funny to watch them get stuck behind busses, having followed too close to safely go around them when the bus stops to pickup/dropoff.

Also Ive seen multiple instances of them trying to turn left on red and pull far enough into an intersection to cause issues.

Finally when I am on my skateboard they dont seem to recognize me as they drive very very close and fast, though I havent felt risky enough to really test this.

Re: How Waymo outlasted the competition and made robo-taxis a real business

#22

Post by xvedejas »

okdood64 wrote: post #17
ripe wrote: post #6

Robotaxis are "a real business"? Maybe in the future, but not yet. From the article: > But even the most bullish believers in autonomous transportation acknowledge the tech still has a ways to go before it’s reliable enough for widespread deployment on U.S. roads.

FWIW: I feel safer driving and walking by to one than I do the average human driver.

The 1% worst human drivers are really quite unpredictable. You're never certain with any human driver whether they're going to drive like a maniac, but you do know you're not getting that with a Waymo.

Re: How Waymo outlasted the competition and made robo-taxis a real business

#23

Post by lvspiff »

ripe wrote: post #6

Robotaxis are "a real business"? Maybe in the future, but not yet. From the article: > But even the most bullish believers in autonomous transportation acknowledge the tech still has a ways to go before it’s reliable enough for widespread deployment on U.S. roads.

I was blown away going around Tempe/Scottsdale - Waymos everywhere with people walking around, crossing streets randomly to get to a spring training game, doing bar crawls (it was st patricks day) and what blew me away was they pulled up in front of hotel and even made a quick u-turn to get out of the parking lot. I mean this is really impressive stuff. The future is now imho.

I will give tempe/scottsdale credit though - they have their roads around the major tourist hubs in GREAT shape - the lines crisp and the lights bright and new - I think it makes it much easier for a waymo to get around.

Re: How Waymo outlasted the competition and made robo-taxis a real business

#25

Post by ok_dad »

xvedejas wrote: post #22
okdood64 wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

FWIW: I feel safer driving and walking by to one than I do the average human driver.

The 1% worst human drivers are really quite unpredictable. You're never certain with any human driver whether they're going to drive like a maniac, but you do know you're not getting that with a Waymo.

With a human I can look at their face to see that they see me. How do I know a robot sees me? Do they have indications that say “I see you and won’t drive” like a driver looking at you in the face and waving?

Re: How Waymo outlasted the competition and made robo-taxis a real business

#26

Post by xvedejas »

ok_dad wrote: post #25
xvedejas wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The 1% worst human drivers are really quite unpredictable. You're never certain with any human driver whether they're going to drive like a maniac, but you do know you're not getting that with a Waymo.

With a human I can look at their face to see that they see me. How do I know a robot sees me? Do they have indications that say “I see you and won’t drive” like a driver looking at you in the face and waving?

As a cyclist/pedestrian I'm used to drivers ignoring me anyway, YMMV

Re: How Waymo outlasted the competition and made robo-taxis a real business

#28

Post by greenthrow »

Waymos are not full robotaxis. It's an illusion provided by having the humans responsible for the cars in a remote location. We don't have transparency on how that system runs and how often the humans intervene. We also sweep under the rug many, many non-crash traffic incidents. Watch videos on Youtube of peoplr taking Waymos and you will see the cars do lots of dumb stuff. If there were lots more of them it would make traffic even more of a problem than it is today.

Re: How Waymo outlasted the competition and made robo-taxis a real business

#29

Post by a0986373 »

clpm4j wrote: post #19
xvedejas wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They're the present here in SF, driving every day and more safely than the humans do. And as a human driver, I can testify that these streets are not particularly easy to drive on.

Yes, they're actually awesome. 'Waymo' has replaced 'Uber' in my vocabulary, e.g. "Let's just Waymo there".

How much does the average trip go for distances such as your use case?

Re: How Waymo outlasted the competition and made robo-taxis a real business

#30

Post by TillE »

ripe wrote: post #6

Robotaxis are "a real business"? Maybe in the future, but not yet. From the article: > But even the most bullish believers in autonomous transportation acknowledge the tech still has a ways to go before it’s reliable enough for widespread deployment on U.S. roads.

"Robo taxis" as they currently exist are pretty obviously not the long term goal, it's not an interesting business, it's just an easy test platform that recoups some costs.

The real business is an entire transit system, with purpose-built vehicles of various sizes, centralized routing, etc.

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