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

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

#431

Post by Isamu »

NoGravitas wrote: post #424
Isamu wrote: post #363

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>It bothers me that farmers rarely own the land too You will be glad to learn that most farmland is farmer owned: https://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/farm-economy/land-use-land-v...

This depends a fair bit on how you define "farmer", of course.

If you raise crops or farm animals, you are a farmer.

The USDA is not trying to pull a fast one with the definition of a farmer.

We could have a discussion about farmers that have other jobs and so are part time farming and part time something else. That tends to correlate with less intensive farming like corn and soybeans.

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

#432

Post by toast0 »

QuercusMax wrote: post #171
crazygringo wrote: post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You do realize that public transportation doesn't provide luggage carts? That you can't take those out of the airport? If you're traveling with a family or group, it really is often going to be much easier to take an XL Uber than deal with turnstiles and transfers and stairs and everything.

So what you're saying is if you're not in a big group or traveling with family, you absolutely SHOULD take public transportation.

Taxis are public transportation.

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

#433

Post by tick_tock_tick »

moandcompany wrote: post #215
tick_tock_tick wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> However I have used SuperCruise and BlueCruise from GM and Ford. We had Waymo and Cruise in SF at the same time for a while and by god Cruise was shit and felt unsafe. Waymo is year ahead of Cruise and better in every manner.

SuperCruise and BlueCruise are technology names from GM and Ford for assisted driving in their car products, and not synonomous with Cruise the company providing ride share services.

It was my understanding they use the same technology since GM owns Cruise....

https://news.gm.com/home.detail.html/Pages/topic/us/en/2025/...

> GM will integrate Cruise technology into the Super Cruise assisted driving system

Looks like it.

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

#434

Post by vdupras »

prismatix wrote: post #42
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.

I had a similar experience. A few months ago, I was in the city for a weekend and took Waymo for most of my rides. The one time I chose to use Lyft/Uber, the driver floored it before we even had a chance to shut the door or get buckled! The rest of the time we took Waymo. I rarely use ride-sharing but other experiences include having been in a FSD Tesla Uber where the driver wasn't paying attention to the road the en…

  > A few months ago, I was in the city for a weekend and took Waymo for most of my rides.
  > [...]
  > I don't know if I trust Waymo cars with my life [...]
I'm sorry to be that guy, but didn't you already?

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

#435

Post by gs17 »

Yizahi wrote: post #281
gs17 wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's a great way to make them targets for vandalism. I'm in a city they're about to get in to (Nashville), and if the snitch-mobile tattled on everyone (the highways here that are officially 55 are "really" 75 with some exceptions, and going the speed limit can end up being more dangerous), sensors would start getting bullet holes. Of course, unlike the normal car break-ins here, the cops might do something about t…

Does speed cameras not exist in the USA? If I were to drive 30% faster above the limit regularly, I would go broke over here, across the pond.

I've never heard of them on highways, but several states ban their use for enforcement in general.

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

#436

Post by cortesoft »

NewJazz wrote: post #389
cortesoft wrote: post #340

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

OK well LA is a big metro... Your anecdotal evidence is not representative of the whole region.

Obviously. I was not trying to make a completely factual and consistent logical claim. I was making a pithy observation.

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

#437

Post by NoGravitas »

Isamu wrote: post #431
NoGravitas wrote: post #424

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This depends a fair bit on how you define "farmer", of course.

If you raise crops or farm animals, you are a farmer. The USDA is not trying to pull a fast one with the definition of a farmer. We could have a discussion about farmers that have other jobs and so are part time farming and part time something else. That tends to correlate with less intensive farming like corn and soybeans.

Is a massive agribusiness conglomerate a farmer? Most farmland in the US is "owner operated". But really, that just means it's not rented out by a non-operator landlord, which is the distinction that USDA article makes.

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

#438

Post by mindstorms6 »

zkmon wrote: post #234

Are they fully self-contained or they need to talk back to internet during the ride?

Driving all happens locally in the onboard computer on the Waymo. The car does maintain internet connectivity - but generally it's used for non-driving scenarios. (traffic info, next pickup drop off, entertainment systems, etc)

There are cases where the onboard computer can't make a decision or needs "help" - in which case a support specialist is presented with options the onboard computer needs help deciding between. To be clear - the human is not driving it's more the car asks "Hey - there's something ahead and I am unsure if it's safe to proceed. Here's a video clip of the thing I'm seeing. Help?" Common cases might be an out of distribution thing like steam or an unidentifiable object in the road.

In a "worst case" mode - a human can remotely give the onboard computer a directed path to follow - eg "draw points and follow this path" to get back to where it needs to be. Even then - the onboard computer is following the path but still maintaining it's constraints "eg don't hit pedestrians."

You can read more about this here: https://waymo.com/blog/2024/05/fleet-response

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

#439

Post by dzhiurgis »

7e wrote: post #402
dzhiurgis wrote: post #374

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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.

Waymo had safety drivers, it's California law. In Texas safety person is in passenger seat. He can and does intervene.

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

#440

Post by kmacleod »

onemoresoop wrote: post #310
HPsquared wrote: post #285

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Looking forward to when they get rid of traffic lights and the networked cars just whiz through and avoid hitting each other. They'll also seamlessly zip lanes together on the highway, and traffic waves will be a thing of the past. Maybe China will do it first.

No thoughts on pedestrians? With no traffic lights it'd be a total nightmare to be a pedestrian

My Tesla FSD v14 will wait for any pedestrian stepping or approaching stepping into the road.
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