Waymo in Portland • Hacker News Board

Re: Waymo in Portland

#261

Post by themafia » Tue, Apr 28, 2026, 9:33 PM UTC

walrus01 wrote: post #27

porphyra wrote: post #18

A Waymo was recently stuck on some light rail tracks in Phoenix this year [1]. Portland has a rather diverse bunch of streetcars and trams concentrated in its downtown core. Hopefully they don't get stuck on the tracks or block the trams. [1] https://www.azfamily.com/2026/01/08/waymo-passenger-flees-af...

Definitely a big concern, but given the number of times in my lifespan that I've seen pictures or video of human-driven vehicles that have got stuck on railroad crossings (or just straight up drunk people trying to drive linearly down a railroad track)... I would be curious to compare stats of 100,000 hours of human drivers getting stuck on grade crossings or doing something dumb, such as trying to drive around cross…

> or just straight up drunk people

Waymo. Slightly better than an irresponsible alcoholic. As long as the maps are up to date.

Re: Waymo in Portland

#262

Post by habnds » Tue, Apr 28, 2026, 9:34 PM UTC

pishpash wrote: post #242

habnds wrote: post #193

Earlier quoted context omitted.

the actual cost of a trip between times square and the national mall is about $200 all things considered based on the ~0.80 federal mileage reimbursement rate for 250 miles. that train corridor is overwhelmingly successful as well so the idea that amtrak isn't a good deal is at odds with reality.

That's assuming you don't already have a time-depreciating asset in your possession. Per mile cost is about halved if you drive significantly more than average.

People in and around the acela corridor drive significantly less than the national average.

Re: Waymo in Portland

#263

Post by kristjansson » Tue, Apr 28, 2026, 9:35 PM UTC

blks wrote: post #228

starkparker wrote: post #127

For context, this is coming in as TriMet is laying off staff, reducing service frequency, eliminating bus lines, and cutting parts of light rail routes due to a $300M budget shortfall. The cuts were exacerbated by state Republicans getting a proposed payroll tax repeal onto the ballot next month; TriMet relies heavily on payroll taxes that are deeply unpopular among the self-employed and small business owners, so the…

Waymo is an expensive taxi service, not a solution to public transport.

If it can deliver transit to the public at a reasonable price…

Re: Waymo in Portland

#264

Post by insane_dreamer » Tue, Apr 28, 2026, 9:36 PM UTC

starkparker wrote: post #127

For context, this is coming in as TriMet is laying off staff, reducing service frequency, eliminating bus lines, and cutting parts of light rail routes due to a $300M budget shortfall. The cuts were exacerbated by state Republicans getting a proposed payroll tax repeal onto the ballot next month; TriMet relies heavily on payroll taxes that are deeply unpopular among the self-employed and small business owners, so the…

> Waymo shows up with a convenient solution to both problems.

That's absurd. Waymo exacerbates the problem. It doesn't provide public transport.

You get unlimited travel for $100/month on Trimet. You think Waymo is going to cost anything close to that?

Re: Waymo in Portland

#265

Post by llbbdd » Tue, Apr 28, 2026, 9:37 PM UTC

lotsofpulp wrote: post #197

TheGRS wrote: post #190

I'm a little sad to see this because I'm moving northward to Seattle next month, I've lived in Portland proper for over 16 years, and Seattle doesn't have Waymo yet. Great timing lol. Portland will probably be a great testing ground for them because generally speaking you have a lot of tech curious and tech averse people here living together. When we got electric scooters there were both tons of people using them and…

Waymo has already been mapping Seattle for months. I don’t see customers in Portland having access before Seattle.

God willing. Unfortunately Seattle has a recent history of award-winning marksmanship when it comes to turning its own feet into Swiss cheese. A few years ago we passed a brilliant gig worker minimum wage law which:

1. Caused rideshare pricing to skyrocket, resulting in

2. way fewer people taking rideshare trips, so

3. drivers end up making less than before, and

4. when you do take one, 95% of the time the driver pulls up two blocks away and plays chicken with you to capitalize on the minimum wage amount while doing the least and incurring the least miles on their car.

Handshakes all around. I'm sure we have the most brilliant minds at work figuring out how to kneecap Waymo as much as possible so we can maintain this standard of service.

Re: Waymo in Portland

#266

Post by insane_dreamer » Tue, Apr 28, 2026, 9:38 PM UTC

fsckboy wrote: post #202

starkparker wrote: post #127

For context, this is coming in as TriMet is laying off staff, reducing service frequency, eliminating bus lines, and cutting parts of light rail routes due to a $300M budget shortfall. The cuts were exacerbated by state Republicans getting a proposed payroll tax repeal onto the ballot next month; TriMet relies heavily on payroll taxes that are deeply unpopular among the self-employed and small business owners, so the…

> TriMet relies heavily on payroll taxes that are deeply unpopular among the self-employed and small business owners just a point of clarification, the term "payroll taxes" refers to Social Security and Medicare taxes that are applied to your paycheck; you don't pay them, self-employed and employers pay those. Wage-earners do not pay them directly, but do collect the social security and Medicare benefits that they pa…

The OTT payroll tax isn't that onerous really. (I say this as someone who pays them for our employees.)

Re: Waymo in Portland

#267

Post by xnx » Tue, Apr 28, 2026, 9:40 PM UTC

GuinansEyebrows wrote: post #210

xnx wrote: post #184

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> your voice, "private" conversations. Waymo microphones are only activated when you contact support.

truly not trying to be snarky here but i don't understand why you would place this level of trust in an Alphabet Inc brand.

Of all the organizations with access to my data (e.g. ISP, social networks, cellphone service provider, current US government, etc.), I absolutely trust Google the most.

Do you think Google is lying about the microphone?

Re: Waymo in Portland

#268

Post by Jblx2 » Tue, Apr 28, 2026, 9:40 PM UTC

Schiendelman wrote: post #249

sheept wrote: post #186

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Self driving cars aren't the next stage of public transport; they're a bandaid solution to American urban design. They're still cars, so they still contribute to traffic and increased pavement wear, and I cannot imagine they'd be cheaper at scale than buses for storage/maintenance/cleaning.

I spent ten years in the trenches of American urban design policy. The best we could do was lose very slightly less quickly . It's not changing. Trains are great, we should build more, and we probably should replace a lot of bus routes by subsidizing rides on Waymo and its ilk. It'll be cheaper and provide better service.

>Trains are great

I wonder how much that sentiment is that based on steampunk and 1880's nostalgia?

Re: Waymo in Portland

#269

Post by cvwright » Tue, Apr 28, 2026, 9:41 PM UTC

guywithabike wrote: post #217

alphawhisky wrote: post #183

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm sure that they'll just dodge regulations like every other Service as a Software company. Literally taking the money out of the City's hands and providing a slower, less safe, less equitable service. While taking profit too. Sheesh.

By every available measure, Waymo is safer and more equitable than cabs and rideshares. Waymos don't refuse service on skin color or disability. They don't have to stop every block along a fixed route like TriMet. And they're not profitable. So what's your actual beef, here? I actually live in Portland, and Waymos are going to be a massive improvement over the chronically inattentive, unskilled drivers around here. W…

And you don’t have to worry that some random passenger will piss, puke, or shit in the Waymo during your commute.

The first two happened to me within the span of a month during the three years that I rode Trimet in Portland.

Re: Waymo in Portland

#270

Post by tencentshill » Tue, Apr 28, 2026, 9:41 PM UTC

guywithabike wrote: post #218

fhka wrote: post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I also don't understand why people aren't more upset about the privacy issues. They have your whole travel data, your face, your voice, "private" conversations. And the people in the Philippines who can intervene in the "self" driving can comment on your bodily features if bored.

> I also don't understand why people aren't more upset about the privacy issues. I think a lot of people are starting to realize that despite years of doom-and-gloom finger wagging about privacy, their lives have never actually been negatively impacted by the horrors of targeted ads and, if anything, are materially improved (free internet search engines, free email, free social networks, and so on).

It recently became very real for a lot of people. The US government is buying that harmless advertising data to target, locate, and arrest/deport people. If I was an immigrant of any legal status, I would now absolutely think twice about providing a real name or address to any online service. Any benign good-faith "its only for ads" argument has been destroyed within the last year. GrapheneOS/Librem/Pursim should start advertising heavily in immigrant communities.

This also intertwines with the coordinated ID push for many social media networks. It builds an effective framework to target anyone. Trump casually designates people "terrorists" already.