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Waymo Premier

waymo.com

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Re: Waymo Premier

#361

Post by culi »

saghm wrote: post #207
jacobgold wrote: post #176

If Waymo Premier includes an [EVASIVE MANEUVERS] button on the infotainment screen I'm in. I had a Uber driver block my Waymo at an intersection in SF some months ago just to be an asshole. Apparently some other people have been attacked and robbed while in a Waymo. Waymo should treat it like a security flaw that anyone can stop your car and there's nothing you can do about it.

As always, relevant xkcd: https://xkcd.com/1958/

Waymo was a target during the anti-ICE protests because of Google's collaboration with ICE. In addition, Waymo is seen as a symbol of the gentrification problem.

Agree or disagree with it, my point is that that xkcd doesn't take into account political motivations

Re: Waymo Premier

#362

Post by jeffbee »

CaliforniaKarl wrote: post #348
jeffbee wrote: post #326

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That system has been walking into the grave for a long time. I am surprised every time I see one.

I'm curious, when's the last time you've checked the parking garages of your nearby university campus?

That's the only place I see them, in Berkeley, but they've been walking out of major markets like the UK and they packed up their global headquarters and moved into the basement of their parent company, so it can't be that great of a business.

Two other local car shares, City Car Share and AAA Gig, went out of business here.

Re: Waymo Premier

#363

Post by junon »

saberience wrote: post #195
junon wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a gay dude I experienced my fair share of "uncomfortable" Uber rides from or to various places. No thanks. I don't need to stimulate those kinds of social skills or whatever. Can't even imagine what women go through.

[flagged]

Uber drivers often do. Hence my comment.

Re: Waymo Premier

#365

Post by saghm »

throwawaytea wrote: post #328
throwaway2037 wrote: post #226

Earlier quoted context omitted.

1000%. Ask any women who uses ride-hailing services: Have you ever had a situation where the driver made you uncomfortable or fear for your safety? I would conservatively estimate 100% of women. I think men just do not understand how much women are willing to pay to guarantee they can avoid this situation.

Not a single woman has even asked or cared if I felt uncomfortable at a gas station at night, or ATM, or walking down the street. Yet data shows men are more likely to be physically assaulted and/or killed by strangers.

This framing ignores the fact that most people who commit crimes like the ones you mention are men. A man encountered in one of those situations alone is a lot more likely to be a threat, so I'm not sure why you'd expect that a woman would try to initiate conversation with him.

Re: Waymo Premier

#366

Post by xnx »

petilon wrote: post #357
philip1209 wrote: post #53

Cash back is huge for people expensing rides. “Spend company money on us, and take your personal rides every once in a while for free.” Same model as airlines.

It is surprising that business travel still exists. I would've thought that due to improvements in video calling tech during covid, the need for travel to customer site would decline precipitously.

A lot of business travel is kickbacks/bribes for signing contracts.

Re: Waymo Premier

#367

Post by runarberg »

ctoth wrote: post #353
runarberg wrote: post #318

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can I ask why you prefer that some future technology will solve her problem when actual solutions (such as access vans; public transit; etc.) already exist? And before anyone points this out, if your local government does not offer these solutions that is a political choice of your local politicians. Plenty of local governments all over the world (even in dictatorships) are able to provide these, and changing the pol…

I'm blind. I wish to hop in a robocar and drive from Denver to go visit my folks back home in Florida. Is the Denver Access-A-Ride going to take me? Which public transit is available?

I preemptively addressed this. Not providing access is a political choice. The airports/train stations/bus stations in both Denver and Florida should have assistants ready to guide you to your flight/train/bus and the Colorado government could have an agreement with Florida to share services with residents of either state. If they don‘t, there was a political choice not to, which can be changed. If there is no public transit available... well... neither are robocars, but only the former is a political choice.

Re: Waymo Premier

#368

Post by xnx »

throwaway2037 wrote: post #243
minwcnt5 wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Depends where you live. In SF, parking alone is more than $300/mo if you have to pay for a spot. Also, many companies subsidize Waymo rides for employees as part of their commuter benefits.

> Also, many companies subsidize Waymo rides for employees as part of their commuter benefits. Wild. I believe it... but who?

Waymo?

Re: Waymo Premier

#369

Post by HDBaseT »

From the article;

"Sarah Paige Roland, a Waymo rider in Phoenix. "I get privacy, time back, a safe ride, and I'm not obligated to talk to someone that I don't want to talk to. Adding cash back and priority pickups on top of that makes Premier a no-brainer for someone like me."

How does one "get privacy" via a Google spyware car exactly?

Re: Waymo Premier

#370

Post by runarberg »

michaelt wrote: post #341
paulryanrogers wrote: post #314

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are cars really the best option? Could other public transit serve the same purpose? (I was once legally blind, still not a fan of cars myself. Though I understand the appeal when externalities are out of the picture.)

Cars aren't the best option, but you can drop self-driving cars into an existing car-centric society one car at a time, with the car buyers paying for themselves. Making a car-centric society meaningfully less car-centric requires the enthusiastic support of that society, along with competent political leadership, and probably a fair chunk of taxpayer cash too. Suburbs with huge lots make for long walks to the transi…

This is a false alternative, because robocars do not exist, while public transit does exist but simply hasn’t been adequately implemented everywhere.

Politicians (and grifters alike) like to point to a future technology to solve an existing problem only to delay existing solutions which they don’t want to implement, most often for political reasons.

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