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

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

#91

Post by gottorf »

Jelthi wrote: post #52
cvsv wrote: post #47

The Waymo cars are really comfortable luxury Jaguars. For Uber and Lyft there are many price tiers, but to reliably get an equally or more comfortable car you probably need to book the black car options. I’m sure Uber / Lyft are way more expensive per mile than Waymo on that tier. In addition to all the things people have pointed out that makes it a better experience.

Almost every Uber Black and Black SUV I’ve ordered was a Chevy Suburban or GMC Yukon. The quality is across the board, but one thing I’ve found consistent is the terrible quality seats. The seats feel like it’s just cardboard supporting you that pops in and out as you move with the car. It’s rare to get an actual luxury car even when paying more. Their promise of “professional” drivers is also wild. Sometimes you get…

> I’ve had plenty of downright rude drivers who feel inconvenienced by my presence

This is my general observation about life (at least in the US) these days: the seeming prevalence of people who think they're doing you a favor by doing their job.

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

#92

Post by basisword »

pkrecker wrote: post #6

I'm willing to pay more for a better ride experience: * Waymos are all the same. I underrated the value of this until I started taking Waymo more often. * I can control the music and volume with my phone. * I can listen to YouTube or take a call without AirPods. Sometimes I even hotspot and do some work. But most importantly Waymos all _drive_ the same way. I have had some really perplexing Uber drivers, either drivi…

>> driving dangerously

This is where self-driving taxis could succeed. I don't want self-driving on my personal car because I am more trusting of my own abilities. But I have had too many Uber rides where I've seriously considered asking them to pull over and let me out. Never any accidents but some really dangerous driving and a couple of drivers where it was 50/50 whether they were drunk or high. I'll trust the self-driving over a random Uber driver every time.

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

#93

Post by CSMastermind »

jerlam wrote: post #43
xnx wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Electronic vehicles have made riding in Uber's an almost uniformly nauseating experience I've heard this a lot. Are drivers heavily accelerating and decelerating?

Teslas do this by default. They have very strong acceleration, since they were marketed as "sports cars" to people who don't know sports cars, and strong regeneration for efficiency and one-pedal driving.

I drive a sports car as my daily driver and I don't know what Tesla is trying to imitate but it's definitely not a sports car.

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

#94

Post by basisword »

username223 wrote: post #53
onlyrealcuzzo wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've been picked up multiple times by Uber drivers who have, essentially, bragged? about being drunk or high. I've also had multiple drivers in multiple countries try to sell me drugs. I also once had a driver in Chile who, somehow, micro-slept in stop and go traffic every time the car was stopped (which, was actually fascinating, and would've been very concerning if we ever got going more than like 10 mph). Women al…

> I also once had a driver in Chile who, somehow, micro-slept in stop and go traffic every time the car was stopped Imagine how desperate you would have to be to drive a cab when you're that sleep-deprived (probably haven't slept in 36 hours). Now imagine someone took that income away from you to give it to Sundar Pichai. Yeah, sometimes it's unpleasant talking to a cabby, and sometimes he won't take a hint and stop…

>> Imagine how desperate you would have to be to drive a cab when you're that sleep-deprived (probably haven't slept in 36 hours). Now imagine someone took that income away from you to give it to Sundar Pichai.

Desperation isn't an excuse for risking the life of your passenger and other road users or pedestrians.

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

#95

Post by nabla9 »

standardUser wrote: post #88
onlyrealcuzzo wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've been picked up multiple times by Uber drivers who have, essentially, bragged? about being drunk or high. I've also had multiple drivers in multiple countries try to sell me drugs. I also once had a driver in Chile who, somehow, micro-slept in stop and go traffic every time the car was stopped (which, was actually fascinating, and would've been very concerning if we ever got going more than like 10 mph). Women al…

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.

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

#96

Post by basisword »

thunky wrote: post #72
pkrecker wrote: post #6

I'm willing to pay more for a better ride experience: * Waymos are all the same. I underrated the value of this until I started taking Waymo more often. * I can control the music and volume with my phone. * I can listen to YouTube or take a call without AirPods. Sometimes I even hotspot and do some work. But most importantly Waymos all _drive_ the same way. I have had some really perplexing Uber drivers, either drivi…

> just driving dangerously Why don't we have a feature to brake or at least beep when tailgating? 2 car lengths at 80 mph is not ok.

All this would do is cause noise pollution. Have you never had the displeasure of riding with someone who will leave their seatbelt unplugged despite the annoying beeping?

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

#97

Post by arealaccount »

Pingk wrote: post #8

The article doesn't mention if tips are included in their calculation (I suspect not). Are Uber/Lyft still cheaper after a 10-15% tip?

Only about 15% people tip https://www.businessinsider.com/1-percent-uber-riders-always...

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

#98

Post by basisword »

cosmic_cheese wrote: post #32

A robot isn’t going to decide it doesn’t want to take my ride after accepting it and drive around aimlessly hoping I’ll get tired of waiting and cancel. I haven’t needed Uber/Lyft on a regular basis in several years, but back when I did that was a frequently recurring problem.

Reliability was the main selling point for me ~10 years ago. You could also get a ride quickly. It's the total opposite now. I've missed a flight due to multiple cancellations. I've been left standing in dangerous areas of town for an hour late at night trying to get a ride. Now, for important things where possible, I'll take public transport. It's far more reliable.

If you want to compete with Uber, increase prices and increase reliability significantly. There are times when a lot of people will be more than happy to pay rather than risk their safety. Undo the enshittification.

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

#99

Post by Evidlo »

onlyrealcuzzo wrote: post #62
username223 wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I also once had a driver in Chile who, somehow, micro-slept in stop and go traffic every time the car was stopped Imagine how desperate you would have to be to drive a cab when you're that sleep-deprived (probably haven't slept in 36 hours). Now imagine someone took that income away from you to give it to Sundar Pichai. Yeah, sometimes it's unpleasant talking to a cabby, and sometimes he won't take a hint and stop…

So instead of giving my money to Google, I should get in a car where someone could easily kill me and others? No thanks.

Just stay indoors away from strangers where it's safe.

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

#100

Post by Axsuul »

xnx wrote: post #26
browningstreet wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's what all the Waymo's look like. They did some testing in Chrysler minivans, now they're testing in BYD vehicles. But the rides are in those Jaguars (ya know, the ones burning in LA).

> now they're testing in BYD vehicles I hadn't heard that. Did you mean Geely Zeekr? https://waymo.com/blog/2021/12/expanding-our-waymo-one-fleet...

I've been seeing these drive around LA too (the Zeekr).
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