Waymo robotaxis are now giving rides on freeways in LA, SF and Phoenix • Hacker News Board

Re: Waymo robotaxis are now giving rides on freeways in LA, SF and Phoenix

#401

Post by bsder » Thu, Nov 13, 2025, 5:19 AM UTC

bigstrat2003 wrote: post #378

bsder wrote: post #373

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Nothing bad happens. Until it does. The biggest problem in car accidents is speed differential . When you are not driving the prevailing speed, your speed differential is significantly higher and the accident will be worse than average.

That is the fault of the person driving faster than the speed limit, not the person driving the speed limit.

Many people involved in car accidents are dead even though they were in the right.

Motorcyclists can give you long lectures about this.

Re: Waymo robotaxis are now giving rides on freeways in LA, SF and Phoenix

#402

Post by 7e » Thu, Nov 13, 2025, 5:31 AM UTC

dzhiurgis wrote: post #374

wstrange wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have HW4, and have tried FSD with every major release. It works brilliantly, 99.5% of the time. The issue is that the failure mode is catastrophic. Like getting confused with the lane marking and driving off the shoulder. And the complete inability to read construction zone signs (blasting through a 50 KM zone at 100 KM). I'm deeply skeptical that the current sensor suite and hardware is going to have enough comput…

> The issue is that the failure mode is catastrophic. Given FSD does at least 10x more miles than Waymo, we'd see people getting killed themselves daily. Instead we see tons of videos on Waymo erratic behavior and crashes. Something doesn't add up.

Um, 100% of these Teslas have human drivers behind the wheel, constantly saving themselves, Tesla, and the innocent public from very bad outcomes. Waymos operate autonomously with tens of thousands of miles driven between interventions. Contrast with 13 miles or less with Tesla.

Re: Waymo robotaxis are now giving rides on freeways in LA, SF and Phoenix

#403

Post by sentientslug » Thu, Nov 13, 2025, 5:31 AM UTC

JeremyNT wrote: post #317

ang_cire wrote: post #192

Earlier quoted context omitted.

AI doesn't replace programmers, it's used by programmers for efficiency. Waymo is most definitely not being used by taxi or rideshare drivers to be more efficient.

Waymo definitely uses human drivers in some markets... currently Just like AI still uses human programmers... currently

Sorry, what? Waymo does not use human drivers for passenger trips, unless you’re referring to training drives (with no passenger).

Edit: I think I get what you mean now, you mean when humans have to remotely intervene for whatever reason and pilot the car

Re: Waymo robotaxis are now giving rides on freeways in LA, SF and Phoenix

#404

Post by 7e » Thu, Nov 13, 2025, 5:37 AM UTC

cortesoft wrote: post #340

sib wrote: post #169

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you driven in LA? Traffic speed is generally bimodal: either stuck in traffic jam or easily 15 mph above the limit. (Source: live in LA, drive regularly.)

Yes, I drive in LA every day, since I have lived here 20 years. I literally have the 405 in my back yard. I can verify that there is always traffic on it by looking out my window.

Not true of many highways in LA, especially after ten p.m.

Re: Waymo robotaxis are now giving rides on freeways in LA, SF and Phoenix

#405

Post by ookblah » Thu, Nov 13, 2025, 8:09 AM UTC

another subjective data point, took waymo multiple times in SF and also lyft when waymo was taking too long. honestly, waymo was better in every single way and it wasn't even close. the only comparison was "maybe" taking a black XL from the airport.

in no particular order, my problems w/ lyft:

1) driver trying to talk to you when you just want some quiet time

2) unclean/smelly car, have no idea if it's some econobox or actually decent

3) sometimes questionable driving, talking on the phone or talking to you or watching some youtube video or using their phone trying to grab the next fare

waymo i just get in, it takes me where i need to go and i get out, no fuss. maybe i'll eat my words if i get into some catastrophic situation, but honestly i'll take that over the "feeling" i get when i step into current ride shares.

people don't drink starbucks because it's the best coffee, they do it because it's consistent for the most part and that's what i want. i don't want to roll the damn dice everytime i call for a car.

Re: Waymo robotaxis are now giving rides on freeways in LA, SF and Phoenix

#406

Post by qnleigh » Thu, Nov 13, 2025, 10:42 AM UTC

MatekCopatek wrote: post #158

qnleigh wrote: post #138

A lot of people rely on Uber and Lyft for supplemental or primary income, so this could be very disruptive if it continues to scale. Are we not worried about this in the medium-term? Also I appreciate many of the random human interactions I've had with Uber/Lyft drivers. Of course not every ride was great, but many drivers had stories and experiences that no one I usually meet would have. For me, the safe but bland e…

Yes, sure, but that worry can be extended to all jobs lost to AI and after that all jobs lost to any kind of technical advancements. So far the answer of the current economic system has been to invent new products/services and redirect the workforce there. It's been working so far, but isn't without issues - ever-increasing consumption is bad for the environment; the jobs are getting more and more pointless; people w…

Seems like you partly answered your own question? But just in case, to your last point: https://harpers.org/archive/1932/10/in-praise-of-idleness/

Re: Waymo robotaxis are now giving rides on freeways in LA, SF and Phoenix

#407

Post by qnleigh » Thu, Nov 13, 2025, 10:43 AM UTC

Rebelgecko wrote: post #313

qnleigh wrote: post #138

A lot of people rely on Uber and Lyft for supplemental or primary income, so this could be very disruptive if it continues to scale. Are we not worried about this in the medium-term? Also I appreciate many of the random human interactions I've had with Uber/Lyft drivers. Of course not every ride was great, but many drivers had stories and experiences that no one I usually meet would have. For me, the safe but bland e…

It's come full circle from the people who were fighting Uber/Lyft to protect taxi drives' livelihoods

Full circle? It's been a steady decline from the driver's perspective.

Re: Waymo robotaxis are now giving rides on freeways in LA, SF and Phoenix

#408

Post by qnleigh » Thu, Nov 13, 2025, 10:47 AM UTC

rgarrett88 wrote: post #391

qnleigh wrote: post #138

A lot of people rely on Uber and Lyft for supplemental or primary income, so this could be very disruptive if it continues to scale. Are we not worried about this in the medium-term? Also I appreciate many of the random human interactions I've had with Uber/Lyft drivers. Of course not every ride was great, but many drivers had stories and experiences that no one I usually meet would have. For me, the safe but bland e…

I prefer my clothes hand woven but it's so hard to find artisanal weavers these days. And the rate they want! Outrageous when other clothes cost next to nothing.

Even if it's a foregone conclusion that self-driving cars will take over, continuing to support human drivers in the meantime smoothens the transition for them.

Re: Waymo robotaxis are now giving rides on freeways in LA, SF and Phoenix

#409

Post by theoreticalmal » Thu, Nov 13, 2025, 10:51 AM UTC

SoftTalker wrote: post #251

adventured wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I imagine most traditional taxi drivers converted into Uber and Lyft drivers. Unique regulatory circumstances in places like NYC might have delayed that process some of course (eg trying to pay off a medallion). Uber and Lyft drivers are taxi drivers.

Drivers rarely owned the medallion. They leased the cab for 8-12 hours and drove it on behalf of the medallion owner.

I work for a company that owns (iirc) a large portion the medallions issued by NYC. We rent the vehicle and medallion out to people to drive/work

Re: Waymo robotaxis are now giving rides on freeways in LA, SF and Phoenix

#410

Post by ZeroGravitas » Thu, Nov 13, 2025, 11:08 AM UTC

mmmlinux wrote: post #28

I was in SF a few weekend ago and rode both Waymo and normal Lyft style taxi cars. the Waymo was a better experience in every single way. One of the Lyfts i was in drove on the shoulder for a while like it was a lane. The Waymos were just smooth consistent driving. No aggressive driving to get you dumped off so they can get to the next fair.

Is that human vs robo or is it just that one had the enshittification dial turned up earlier?

If you were running a private equity robotaxi firm and your bonus relied on 1% more rides wouldn't you be dialing up the aggressive driving? Repeat for a few quarters and the robot will be cutting the same corners that the human is forced to.

Some future Fight Club reboot will reference your ChatGPT logs that show you asked how much the corporation would need to pay to the people killed in crashes vs increased profit to find the profit maximising level of dangerous driving.