Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Waymo rides cost more than Uber or Lyft and people are paying anyway

techcrunch.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

421–430 of 916 posts

Re: Waymo rides cost more than Uber or Lyft and people are paying anyway

#421

Post by ruined »

nabla9 wrote: post #95
standardUser wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On the upside, I've had Uber drivers in multiple countries help me buy drugs. Waymo hasn't hooked me up even once.

Knowing how economics works, this will lead to specialization. Human drivers will become more likely to offer extra services like drugs, company and entertainment. Silent careful drivers will be driven out by Waymo.

and from the top, management's application of wage-descent games is making steady progress, externalizing the largest tolerable side-hustle

illicit retail is the natural symbiosis of optimized service labor

Re: Waymo rides cost more than Uber or Lyft and people are paying anyway

#422

Post by Spooky23 »

recursive wrote: post #225
Spooky23 wrote: post #158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Uber guys take a bath on EVs, they try to squeeze more range.

That does not really make sense. The most efficient way to drive for range is slow and smooth.

Well, uber drivers spend like $0.60/mile, and make well under a dollar/mile, so the whole business doesn’t make much sense.

Re: Waymo rides cost more than Uber or Lyft and people are paying anyway

#423

Post by wileydragonfly »

ApolloFortyNine wrote: post #303
sanswork wrote: post #294

Earlier quoted context omitted.

$3 is small enough that almost everyone will just eat the cost. I have a theory that they do this intentionally in some things(well Uber I've never used lift). Almost every time I order food and something is wrong or missing they'll give me a refund that is $2-3 off what it should be. Like if I order a $5 item and it's missing their service will refund me $2. At that point I can chose to spend literally an hour going…

Doordash did to me for 70cents or so once. There was a missing item in an order, no big deal, app let's you report it, and the exact item that was missing. But instead of refunding the $2 it cost, they refunded like $1.19 or something to that affect.

DoorDash.. either the drivers can selectively identify the most expensive entree and remove it without disturbing anything… or restaurant owners figured out they could just leave it out without any real penalty. Happened so many times I got tired of arguing and chargebacks and moved on. No issues with other services.. someone figured out a grift.

Re: Waymo rides cost more than Uber or Lyft and people are paying anyway

#424

Post by drcode »

fluidcruft wrote: post #272
tempestn wrote: post #154

This makes a lot of sense to me. When you ride in an Uber or a taxi, you're a guest in the driver's space. In a Waymo, it's your own space. You can play music, talk on the phone, etc. without worrying about disturbing the driver. You're not likely to have strong odors, or driver's phone conversations. And the experience will be roughly consistent each time. In an Uber, you have no idea what the car or the driving sta…

There's also the issue of tipping. I haven't been in a waymo but I generally tip well in Uber or Lyft. I wouldn't tip a robot. So at least to me $15+$5 tip vs $20 is pretty much a wash.

I was kinda pissed when my local mall got a "barista robot", and it asks for a 20% tip when you swipe your card

Re: Waymo rides cost more than Uber or Lyft and people are paying anyway

#425

Post by bsder »

MegaButts wrote: post #252
silvr wrote: post #159

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Minority view here I'm sure but maybe profits are a just reward for inventing the future - this is literally science fiction come to life

Self-driving cars are cool but I'd rather have good public transit. These vehicles clearly have utility beyond just public transit, but I'd rather they be an edge case rather than considered a main solution. So yeah, from my perspective the problem is being focused on profits instead of trying to solve the real problem with solutions that have already existed for decades. If you zoom out a bit, your argument would be…

> Self-driving cars are cool but I'd rather have good public transit.

Last mile is a PITA in the US. It is difficult to take the train from San Diego northward if you don't get there at 7AM because the parking will fill up.

At some point, Waymo can cross over into replacing a personal car for the last mile task. Right now, it's a bit expensive: $20/ride 2 ride/day 5 days/week * 50 weeks = $10,000 per year. Purchasing your own car still makes more sense. If that were $1,000 per year? No brainer--I'd dump my car in a heartbeat.

Re: Waymo rides cost more than Uber or Lyft and people are paying anyway

#427

Post by johnnyanmac »

criddell wrote: post #400
nixpulvis wrote: post #237

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Isolationism progresses.

What do you propose? Should Uber/Lyft train their drivers better to pick up on social cues to know when to engage and when to shut up and drive? Should they do more to make sure their drivers have good hygiene and manners?

It's not really a ride share problem. It's simply another crack showing how hard it is to just talk to people these days. There's a dozen other things to address first before I'd try to "make people be social in cars". funding into a variety of public spaces, better public transportation, regulating dating apps, better community outreach for events that already exist. I could go on.

Re: Waymo rides cost more than Uber or Lyft and people are paying anyway

#428

Post by wileydragonfly »

1024core wrote: post #302
Animats wrote: post #132

Waymos will get cheaper to make as they scale up. The Ioniq version [1] costs less to build. All the sheet metal and mechanical mods for Waymo are done at the Hyundai factory in Georgia.[2] Waymo just mounts the electronics. Jobs at the Hyundai factory start at $23.66/hour, with reasonably good benefits.[3] [1] https://waymo.com/blog/2024/10/waymo-and-hyundai-enter-partn... [2] https://www.hmgma.com/ [3] https://care…

The other day I almost got ran over by an old lady in her old Volvo wagon at a stop sign. She seemed to have gotten confused a little and was turning left but couldn't figure out the right move to make. People behind her honked and she decided to just go for it. I happened to be in the crosswalk and just happened to look over at the honking, and saw her coming, so managed to jump out of her way. She was easily over 9…

Hell, it’ll make MY life easier. Can’t wait for the day where I can do whatever the hell I want while my car drives itself. Affluent seniors that shouldn’t be driving are an obvious market and it would have been helpful for those in my life, too.

Re: Waymo rides cost more than Uber or Lyft and people are paying anyway

#429

Post by jen729w »

jopsen wrote: post #170
harmmonica wrote: post #137

As a Waymo-booster on HN for a while now, here's my latest anecdote. I tried to figure out how to take Waymo to LAX even though it's not actually in their territory yet just because I value the experience so much. I was borderline going to take it within walking distance (about half a mile), but got lazy at the last minute. I took Lyft instead, and, as if the universe cursed my laziness, I booked a "comfort" car for…

$3 isn't this kind of a small problem? I miss rideshare service, in Denmark we have mess of expensive high quality taxis that you cannot get hold of when you need one.

It's the point. I've noticed the same, in Australia on Uber, and have stopped bothering asking for the 'comfort' vehicle.

It's the same car. They just charge you $3 more for thinking you're going to get something nicer. You're not.

Re: Waymo rides cost more than Uber or Lyft and people are paying anyway

#430

Post by johnnyanmac »

onlyrealcuzzo wrote: post #234
tempestn wrote: post #154

This makes a lot of sense to me. When you ride in an Uber or a taxi, you're a guest in the driver's space. In a Waymo, it's your own space. You can play music, talk on the phone, etc. without worrying about disturbing the driver. You're not likely to have strong odors, or driver's phone conversations. And the experience will be roughly consistent each time. In an Uber, you have no idea what the car or the driving sta…

Why is anyone surprised that a smaller segment of the market will pay more for a safer ride in a luxury vehicle compared to a base model Lyft (which can be a barely drivable car with rank cloth interior where you can't even fit two people in the back seat)? Next up, some one will post, "First class tickets cost more than coach." Waymo will eventually have Waymo Comfort and Waymo Black.

I'm in LA, so I'm still skeptical about "safer". Granted, that's not a high bar, but I know who's accountable if an Uber/Lyft crashes.
Post reply on HN