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Waymo to test its autonomous driving technology in over 10 new cities

reuters.com

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Re: Waymo to test its autonomous driving technology in over 10 new cities

#71

Post by miki123211 »

jillesvangurp wrote: post #47
_ea1k wrote: post #28

I've been poking at Uber forums and other places, and I'm noticing that a _lot_ of people are underestimating this. Waymo is growing by >100%/year at the moment and this is a significant part of that growth. It'll make a huge dent in demand for Uber/Lyft over the next five years.

Unless those companies stumble on competing solutions that they can use to level the playing field. Waymo doesn't have this market to itself in perpetuity. Uber and Lyft basically have lots of revenue and can afford to take some bets on experimenting with different partners for self driving at a relatively low risk. There are plenty of other companies experimenting with self driving taxis, cars, trucks, etc. And not…

I wouldn't be surprised if Uber/Lyft essentially end up as aggregators for autonomous cars.

You'll have multiple (local) companies, possibly Uber franchisees, maintaining autonomous fleets and doing the low-margin work of car cleaning, acquiring the vehicles, servicing them etc. Uber will be the interface between the passenger and those companies.

Uber could even keep some human drivers for peak-traffic situations that it would be uneconomical for a ppurely autonomous fleet to handle.

Re: Waymo to test its autonomous driving technology in over 10 new cities

#72

Post by pesus »

bps4484 wrote: post #64
jedberg wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why do you think the trips are slower than a human? I've only taken one Waymo trip (and my wife two) but in each case it didn't feel any slower than a Lyft. But it felt a lot safer! They definitely drive better than any human Lyft driver I've ever had. And the prices seems to roughly match Uber/Lyft. Sometimes they're higher sometimes lower. The one ride I took I chose the more expensive Waymo just for the better exp…

I should first note that I'm a big fan of waymo and want autonomous to succeed generally. I take both waymo's and lyft/uber all the time in sf and waymo's are way slower. I'd estimate it at 10-15% slower. Once the novelty of a waymo wears off you realize that they drive like a high anxiety teenager and going 15 mph on a 15 mph road, coming to gentle full stop at every stop sign, and being very tentative on turns and…

The calmness is a major selling point for me, personally. Beyond just the safety aspect, I can't count how many times I've gotten nauseous from Uber and taxi drivers swerving and accelerating/stopping abruptly, often for no actual speed gain.

Re: Waymo to test its autonomous driving technology in over 10 new cities

#73

Post by someperson »

RivieraKid wrote: post #60
someperson wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Waymos are terrible at taking unprotected left turns into bumper to bumper traffic during peak hour. They aren't aggressive like a normal driver when traffic is stopped and there's a clear but small gap that would result in the car being at an angle crossing traffic. The lidar can't see any gap between cars when trying to turn into a more distant lane, so any obstruction to a close lane due to traffic kills them. Sou…

When was the last time this happened to you?

Last Thursday. I called support after 10 minutes to cancel the ride but the car started moving while I was on the call.

That particular one was a traffic light green light with a "do not queue over intersection" area specifically designed to allow cars in my lane to turn onto the main road. The Waymo can't see that there's a gap in the lane it wanted to turn into, and was too conservative about queuing over the intersection at an angle when the light was green like any human would do.

Re: Waymo to test its autonomous driving technology in over 10 new cities

#74

Post by no_exit »

jasonpeacock wrote: post #24
ggreer wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Self-driving makes the most economic sense when fewer people are in a vehicle. With a large van or bus, the cost of the human driver is split between more passengers. Also van or bus service is less compelling to individuals, as it makes them beholden to bus stop locations and schedules instead of picking them up and dropping them off when and where they want. Adding support for wheelchairs introduces new failure mod…

> Also van or bus service is less compelling to individuals, as it makes them beholden to bus stop locations and schedules instead of picking them up and dropping them off when and where they want. Exactly this. The attraction of self-driving transit is the support for individual planning. Everyone gets a direct route to their destination, no delays stopping or detouring for other people. There's also increased safet…

> You're not being hassled, stalked, or threatened by random people.

That's an odd thing to say. The only times I've ever been randomly threatened in public were on the road, by another driver.

Re: Waymo to test its autonomous driving technology in over 10 new cities

#75

Post by potato3732842 »

esafak wrote: post #67
bps4484 wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I should first note that I'm a big fan of waymo and want autonomous to succeed generally. I take both waymo's and lyft/uber all the time in sf and waymo's are way slower. I'd estimate it at 10-15% slower. Once the novelty of a waymo wears off you realize that they drive like a high anxiety teenager and going 15 mph on a 15 mph road, coming to gentle full stop at every stop sign, and being very tentative on turns and…

That's a product decision, though. They want people to feel safe, and to build a sustained record for being safe. They could easily hit the pedal if they wanted to. They are doing the right thing.

>They want people to feel safe.

"Lawful to a fault teenager" is not what people want in a taxi driver. That type of chauffeur doesn't make people feel safe. It makes them on edge. But unfortunately that's the kind of AI chauffeur regulators want.

I agree it's the "right" way to do it from a PR perspective though.

Re: Waymo to test its autonomous driving technology in over 10 new cities

#76

Post by standardUser »

dageshi wrote: post #33
kart23 wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are they even profitable in SF or LA? I don't disagree with you, but if being profitable means charging more than Uber/Lyft and having slower trips on average than a human, thats not gonna work out too well. And these are the highest CoL cities in the us, meaning that if its not profitable there, might not be profitable anywhere.

I'm pretty certain they won't undercut Uber or other taxi services any time soon because they don't want to provoke the political headache that comes with it. That type of politics could shutdown their licenses, I'm sure they want to avoid that at all costs so they're pricing above existing services. What they may do is refuse to raise prices and eventually inflation will make them the cheapest.

They're already the cheapest if they match prices because there is no tip required. In the long run they'll inevitably be cheaper because of higher utilization of their vehicles and (vastly) lower labor costs.

Re: Waymo to test its autonomous driving technology in over 10 new cities

#77

Post by astrange »

pesus wrote: post #72
bps4484 wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I should first note that I'm a big fan of waymo and want autonomous to succeed generally. I take both waymo's and lyft/uber all the time in sf and waymo's are way slower. I'd estimate it at 10-15% slower. Once the novelty of a waymo wears off you realize that they drive like a high anxiety teenager and going 15 mph on a 15 mph road, coming to gentle full stop at every stop sign, and being very tentative on turns and…

The calmness is a major selling point for me, personally. Beyond just the safety aspect, I can't count how many times I've gotten nauseous from Uber and taxi drivers swerving and accelerating/stopping abruptly, often for no actual speed gain.

Were those rides in hybrids? I've noticed the way they brake is a lot more likely to get me carsick if I'm sitting in the back, especially Priuses.

Re: Waymo to test its autonomous driving technology in over 10 new cities

#78

Post by alistairSH »

bps4484 wrote: post #64
jedberg wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why do you think the trips are slower than a human? I've only taken one Waymo trip (and my wife two) but in each case it didn't feel any slower than a Lyft. But it felt a lot safer! They definitely drive better than any human Lyft driver I've ever had. And the prices seems to roughly match Uber/Lyft. Sometimes they're higher sometimes lower. The one ride I took I chose the more expensive Waymo just for the better exp…

I should first note that I'm a big fan of waymo and want autonomous to succeed generally. I take both waymo's and lyft/uber all the time in sf and waymo's are way slower. I'd estimate it at 10-15% slower. Once the novelty of a waymo wears off you realize that they drive like a high anxiety teenager and going 15 mph on a 15 mph road, coming to gentle full stop at every stop sign, and being very tentative on turns and…

It stopped at a stop sign?!?!? THE HORROR!

Kidding but not kidding. Easily half my Uber rides have been legit scary. Yellow cabs only slightly better.

How does Waymo do for cleanliness and odor? That would be another selling point vs regular Uber/Lyft and many yellow cabs. These days they all seem to douse the interior with cheap cologne.

Re: Waymo to test its autonomous driving technology in over 10 new cities

#80

Post by danvoell »

dageshi wrote: post #20

I'm convinced that Waymo will quietly continue to roll out self driving taxi's to ever increasing areas in "beta" until one day they're covering a significant percentage of the most profitable areas to be a taxi in. Instead of trying for universal self driving, they're going to prioritise being self driving taxi's for the most profitable areas.

I feel like some people have been using "most profitable areas" instead of saying dense urban areas and upset that it might take a while to reach rural and suburban areas. Is that what you are saying? What business is not in the business of pursuing the most plausible profitable direction first?
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