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California DMV approves map increase in Waymo driverless operations

dmv.ca.gov

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Re: California DMV approves map increase in Waymo driverless operations

#31

Post by smlacy »

CamelCaseName wrote: post #19
pfooti wrote: post #13

Looking forward to the highway expansion next. I had to get from mountain view to san francisco yesterday, and waymo was _able_ to do this trip, it was going to take several hours and get routed up el camino real the whole way. Luckily I was standing very close to a caltrain station when I needed the ride, so i just caltrained, and then waymo'd from the SF station to where i needed to be.

Highway expansion is already here in many areas! Waymo has been laying the groundwork for this rapid rollout for so many years and it's amazing to see it all come together.

What's the pricing like? Taking an Uber/Lyft all the way from Mountain View to SF is outrageously expensive, I presume Waymo is the same?

Re: California DMV approves map increase in Waymo driverless operations

#32

Post by bitpush »

njarboe wrote: post #8
Fricken wrote: post #2

It's been a long time coming, but Waymo is doing it. Waymo is scaleable and on the march! They've been announcing plans to roll out in new cities every month or 2 all year, and by the end of 2026 they'll be testing or offering the public rides over 30 metropolitan areas. I'm most curious to see how they do in the winter city of Minneapolis over the next several months.

Competition does encourage action. Glad Tesla started rolling out their robotaxies.

Are you suggesting that Waymo is responding to Tesla? My reading it Waymo was always on a schedule and Tesla wasn't a factor

First slowly and then suddenly.

Re: California DMV approves map increase in Waymo driverless operations

#33

Post by kylehotchkiss »

bob_theslob646 wrote: post #15
kylehotchkiss wrote: post #10

I'm so excited how much of Southern California is opened - Waymo LAX to SD after midnight (there's no trains or buses from 12 to 6)!!

How do you get home if you do not have transit? What is the typical cost of a cab then?

Last time I was in that situation, it was deliberating whether to spend the night in a hotel, the airport, or the train station until 6am when the trains start back up.

Re: California DMV approves map increase in Waymo driverless operations

#34

Post by Tade0 »

This gives me hope that once I'm too old to drive, this tech will reach my, very distant from the US west coast, corner of the world.

And if not Waymo and its car, then perhaps autonomous buses. There's already a shortage of bus drivers in my city and it's not getting any smaller.

Re: California DMV approves map increase in Waymo driverless operations

#36

Post by poszlem »

willio58 wrote: post #26

I didn’t think I’d be so pro Waymo but anecdotally I had a fantastic experience with one recently. I was at a music show very late ~1-2am in SF and walked out to grab an uber to the airbnb I was staying at. I kept getting assigned an uber, then I’d wait 10 minutes, then they’d cancel. Rinse and repeat for 30 minutes, mind you I even resorted to calling Lyfts at the same time and nothing bit. Then I say screw it and d…

Not saying this HAS to happen. But I remember when Ubers were clean, quiet, cheap too. I think you are just looking at a product before the enshittification, when they still have to pretend they care about your comfort.

Re: California DMV approves map increase in Waymo driverless operations

#37

Post by astrange »

pfooti wrote: post #13

Looking forward to the highway expansion next. I had to get from mountain view to san francisco yesterday, and waymo was _able_ to do this trip, it was going to take several hours and get routed up el camino real the whole way. Luckily I was standing very close to a caltrain station when I needed the ride, so i just caltrained, and then waymo'd from the SF station to where i needed to be.

Are you a Waymo tester? I haven't gotten Bay Area access yet despite it being released, and when I checked with support they were just like "oh we lied, it's for trusted testers only."

I dug up my email and found they'd sent me the tester application form like a year ago and I just forgot to fill it out, so maybe they'll let me in sometime.

(Also, the chat claimed the support agent was named Al Pacino. Unless it was a pun on AI and I just couldn't tell with the font.)

Re: California DMV approves map increase in Waymo driverless operations

#38

Post by Rebelgecko »

bob_theslob646 wrote: post #15
kylehotchkiss wrote: post #10

I'm so excited how much of Southern California is opened - Waymo LAX to SD after midnight (there's no trains or buses from 12 to 6)!!

How do you get home if you do not have transit? What is the typical cost of a cab then?

I've never been in that boat but if you don't want an exorbitant Uber, it's probably cheapest to either get a hotel and take Amtrak in the morning or just rent a car. LA and SD are close enough that it often won't accrue any "one-way" fees

Re: California DMV approves map increase in Waymo driverless operations

#39

Post by SkyPuncher »

Fricken wrote: post #2

It's been a long time coming, but Waymo is doing it. Waymo is scaleable and on the march! They've been announcing plans to roll out in new cities every month or 2 all year, and by the end of 2026 they'll be testing or offering the public rides over 30 metropolitan areas. I'm most curious to see how they do in the winter city of Minneapolis over the next several months.

I took my first Waymo in SF this week. As a midwestern, freezing weather was my immediate first thought.

Re: California DMV approves map increase in Waymo driverless operations

#40

Post by astrange »

smlacy wrote: post #31
CamelCaseName wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Highway expansion is already here in many areas! Waymo has been laying the groundwork for this rapid rollout for so many years and it's amazing to see it all come together.

What's the pricing like? Taking an Uber/Lyft all the way from Mountain View to SF is outrageously expensive, I presume Waymo is the same?

Lyft from MV to SF is like $100 I think? It's definitely not enjoyable but for Bay Area prices it's not ruinously expensive.

You /should/ be able to save by using shared rides, but in practice when I tried the driver was so mad they just dumped me on the side of the road and I had to call and get a refund.

The new Caltrain schedule isn't half bad though, if it came twice as often on the weekends we'd be cooking.

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