Since they added a bunch of vehicles to their SF fleet the prices have gone down a lot. I quite like the service. I did however experience one incident where the car got confused by a traffic cop.
Since they added a bunch of vehicles to their SF fleet the prices have gone down a lot. I quite like the service. I did however experience one incident where the car got confused by a traffic cop.
My friend uses it to get around SF pretty regularly, especially if she needs to get across town from where she lives in the Sunset. Parking and traffic can be a nightmare, and she occasionally has...
My friend uses it to get around SF pretty regularly, especially if she needs to get across town from where she lives in the Sunset. Parking and traffic can be a nightmare, and she occasionally has a need to be safe as a single woman, rather than taking public transportation in downtown or the theater district.
She says it's better than having to take lyft or uber, and has found it to be cheaper as well.
The Uber drivers in the city seem to really resent them. My understanding is Waymo has a perfect safety record so far (a couple incidents where they’ve been hit by humans though). But the ride...
The Uber drivers in the city seem to really resent them. My understanding is Waymo has a perfect safety record so far (a couple incidents where they’ve been hit by humans though). But the ride share drivers accuse them of being dangerous. I’m not surprised they feel that way.
Not Just Bikes just did a video on them that's worth seeing. One incident is described in the video that should give you pause. Another vehicle struck a woman and knocked her into the path of a...
Waymo has a perfect safety record so far
Not Just Bikes just did a video on them that's worth seeing.
One incident is described in the video that should give you pause. Another vehicle struck a woman and knocked her into the path of a robo taxi. The robo taxi couldn't stop in time and so drove over top of her. Once she was out of sight under the car it then started going again dragging her with it as it went.
I’m familiar with the video and the incident. That’s from a different self-driving company. And I’m sure even with that accounted for they have orders of magnitude fewer accidents per mile than...
I’m familiar with the video and the incident. That’s from a different self-driving company. And I’m sure even with that accounted for they have orders of magnitude fewer accidents per mile than humans.
That incident was not Waymo and was back in 2018. While horrifying, it's not representative of the state of self driving today with Waymo, 6 years is a long time in this field.
That incident was not Waymo and was back in 2018. While horrifying, it's not representative of the state of self driving today with Waymo, 6 years is a long time in this field.
Ah my mistake I was thinking of the other one mentioned in the video, where the driver of the car was watching netflix on their phone instead of paying attention and the self driving car hit a...
Ah my mistake I was thinking of the other one mentioned in the video, where the driver of the car was watching netflix on their phone instead of paying attention and the self driving car hit a person crossing the highway at like 2 am.
Edit: I read the article and found this interesting:
which dragged her for around 20 feet at a speed of 7 mph before coming to a final stop.
Obviously that's terrible, but I honestly expected it to be way more brutal than that. I'm happy that she lived (especially after getting hit by the initial car, which I might add was not driverless.) It could have been way worse, getting dragged at relatively low speed for a few feet is much better than what was implied by the video and the other articles I read on the subject. I wonder how she was positioned under the car, hopefully not under the tires; though I imagine not because she survived. It is a little funny to me that everyone focuses so hard on the self driving car in that situation when the initial accident was caused by a human and was much more damaging.
Only speaking from my experience, but in the past 4 years or so the quality of Uber drivers has really gone downhill in SF and the Bay Area as a whole. I've had way too experiences with drivers...
Only speaking from my experience, but in the past 4 years or so the quality of Uber drivers has really gone downhill in SF and the Bay Area as a whole. I've had way too experiences with drivers that drive extremely recklessly to the point where I thought I might die, drivers that spew racist/sexist/etc conspiracy theories, and drivers with awful hygiene and car conditions. I'm not surprised they resent Waymos, because they're largely going to be replace by them in the near future and most riders are happy about it. I've had some great experiences meeting some interesting drivers, but at this point the negative and off putting ones are just too numerous. It would likely be much worse if I was a woman or some other easy target for the skeevy drivers. I'm sure it's directly related to the pay (or lack thereof), and I do feel bad for those that rely on driving for Uber for their income, but it was probably inevitable.
It froze in place causing frustration from drivers. I called up Waymo support using the touch screen in the car. I don't think they did anything, but eventually it drove ahead. I was stuck for...
It froze in place causing frustration from drivers. I called up Waymo support using the touch screen in the car. I don't think they did anything, but eventually it drove ahead. I was stuck for maybe 5 minutes.
I had a similar experience when it froze for a minute while picking me up. All in all it was still a great ride. Cheaper than an Uber, smoother ride, better car, and no small talk or bad music.
I had a similar experience when it froze for a minute while picking me up. All in all it was still a great ride. Cheaper than an Uber, smoother ride, better car, and no small talk or bad music.
The adage that people overestimate what a technology can do in 5 years and underestimate what it can do in 10 seems apt for self driving. The pendulum swung too much - it’s definitely not vapor...
The adage that people overestimate what a technology can do in 5 years and underestimate what it can do in 10 seems apt for self driving. The pendulum swung too much - it’s definitely not vapor ware at this point.
I think it depends on profitability, and that’s hard to judge from the outside. If they’re not profitable then I expect them to eventually stop expanding, like Google Fiber did. On the other hand,...
I think it depends on profitability, and that’s hard to judge from the outside. If they’re not profitable then I expect them to eventually stop expanding, like Google Fiber did.
On the other hand, Google Fiber is apparently expanding again, after pausing for many years?
If they do become profitable, Waymo benefits from high barriers to entry.
Buying and equipping a fleet of cars is pretty capital intensive and it’s unclear how long they’ll last. If they’re well maintained, perhaps they would do well on the used market after being decommissioned?
Waymo is ditching its waitlist in Los Angeles, much like it did before in Phoenix and San Francisco, making its fully autonomous vehicles available to anyone who downloads the company’s Waymo One app.
There are still some geographic limitations with which to contend: Waymo only operates within 80 square miles of Los Angeles County, which includes neighborhoods such as Hollywood, Chinatown, Westwood, Marina del Rey, Mar Vista, and Playa Vista.
…
Waymo doesn’t provide airport trips to LAX, nor does it allow its vehicles to travel on highways yet. In a city as reliant on private autos as Los Angeles, it remains to be seen how useful Angelinos will find Waymo without being able to travel on the highway. The company hasn’t said when it hopes to eventually expand service to include airport and highway trips.
But Waymo has novelty on its side — and its customers often give it high marks for the ability to customize their rides, such as playing their own music and setting the temperature to their liking.
Obligatory link to the How Self-Driving Cars Will Destroy Cities thread that's ongoing. I thought it was a really insightful video from a point of view that's not often considered in these...
Obligatory link to the How Self-Driving Cars Will Destroy Cities thread that's ongoing. I thought it was a really insightful video from a point of view that's not often considered in these discussions.
At least in SF I don’t think this is applicable. It’s already a very walkable city and we just passed a tax on ride share companies to subsidize our public transit.
At least in SF I don’t think this is applicable. It’s already a very walkable city and we just passed a tax on ride share companies to subsidize our public transit.
It's walkable, though not without its issues. 2024 has seen more pedestrian deaths because of motor vehicles than in any year since 2014, a sad blemish on the ten year anniversary of City Hall's...
It's walkable, though not without its issues. 2024 has seen more pedestrian deaths because of motor vehicles than in any year since 2014, a sad blemish on the ten year anniversary of City Hall's promises to have reached zero pedestrian fatalities by this year.
To some extent, but most of the deaths weren't from dramatic events that might have gotten a ticket, but little moments of inattentiveness on the part of drivers. The new intersection daylighting...
To some extent, but most of the deaths weren't from dramatic events that might have gotten a ticket, but little moments of inattentiveness on the part of drivers. The new intersection daylighting law that's going to be enforced starting in January will do a lot more to save lives than any number of tickets from the police. Without cars parked within 20 feet of any marked or unmarked crosswalk, pedestrians will be visible far sooner and much less likely to be hit by a driver turning right while looking left. That's the #1 cause of death and injury, and kudos to the state government for working to fix it when city politicians dragged their feet in the face of unhappy community members.
Yeah... it's estimated to eliminate a full 5% of all street parking in the city, which has some people frothing at the mouth. But practically, we dedicate a huge amount of city infrastructure and...
Yeah... it's estimated to eliminate a full 5% of all street parking in the city, which has some people frothing at the mouth. But practically, we dedicate a huge amount of city infrastructure and square footage to people being able to store their cars for free. Cutting that back a bit so that people don't get injured or killed by cars quite so often seems like a decent tradeoff.
Just as an FYI, prop L did not pass despite getting more than 50%. Prop M included a poison pill where if it got more votes than L then L would not take effect. And M got more votes...
Just as an FYI, prop L did not pass despite getting more than 50%. Prop M included a poison pill where if it got more votes than L then L would not take effect. And M got more votes...
Since they added a bunch of vehicles to their SF fleet the prices have gone down a lot. I quite like the service. I did however experience one incident where the car got confused by a traffic cop.
My friend uses it to get around SF pretty regularly, especially if she needs to get across town from where she lives in the Sunset. Parking and traffic can be a nightmare, and she occasionally has a need to be safe as a single woman, rather than taking public transportation in downtown or the theater district.
She says it's better than having to take lyft or uber, and has found it to be cheaper as well.
The Uber drivers in the city seem to really resent them. My understanding is Waymo has a perfect safety record so far (a couple incidents where they’ve been hit by humans though). But the ride share drivers accuse them of being dangerous. I’m not surprised they feel that way.
Uber going the way of the taxi driver it seems, a cheaper and better service is available they're going to have to adapt or fade away
Uber is already partnering with Waymo and Cruise.
https://thehill.com/homenews/4843940-uber-to-start-offering-self-driving-cars/amp/
https://investor.uber.com/news-events/news/press-release-details/2024/Uber-and-Waymo-Expand-Partnership-to-Bring-Autonomous-Ride-Hailing-to-Austin-and-Atlanta/default.aspx
Not Just Bikes just did a video on them that's worth seeing.
One incident is described in the video that should give you pause. Another vehicle struck a woman and knocked her into the path of a robo taxi. The robo taxi couldn't stop in time and so drove over top of her. Once she was out of sight under the car it then started going again dragging her with it as it went.
I’m familiar with the video and the incident. That’s from a different self-driving company. And I’m sure even with that accounted for they have orders of magnitude fewer accidents per mile than humans.
That incident was not Waymo and was back in 2018. While horrifying, it's not representative of the state of self driving today with Waymo, 6 years is a long time in this field.
That was Cruise but was just last year.
https://sfstandard.com/2023/10/24/cruise-robotaxi-dmv-suspension-video/
Ah my mistake I was thinking of the other one mentioned in the video, where the driver of the car was watching netflix on their phone instead of paying attention and the self driving car hit a person crossing the highway at like 2 am.
Edit: I read the article and found this interesting:
Obviously that's terrible, but I honestly expected it to be way more brutal than that. I'm happy that she lived (especially after getting hit by the initial car, which I might add was not driverless.) It could have been way worse, getting dragged at relatively low speed for a few feet is much better than what was implied by the video and the other articles I read on the subject. I wonder how she was positioned under the car, hopefully not under the tires; though I imagine not because she survived. It is a little funny to me that everyone focuses so hard on the self driving car in that situation when the initial accident was caused by a human and was much more damaging.
Only speaking from my experience, but in the past 4 years or so the quality of Uber drivers has really gone downhill in SF and the Bay Area as a whole. I've had way too experiences with drivers that drive extremely recklessly to the point where I thought I might die, drivers that spew racist/sexist/etc conspiracy theories, and drivers with awful hygiene and car conditions. I'm not surprised they resent Waymos, because they're largely going to be replace by them in the near future and most riders are happy about it. I've had some great experiences meeting some interesting drivers, but at this point the negative and off putting ones are just too numerous. It would likely be much worse if I was a woman or some other easy target for the skeevy drivers. I'm sure it's directly related to the pay (or lack thereof), and I do feel bad for those that rely on driving for Uber for their income, but it was probably inevitable.
It was even Uber’s original plan to eliminate their fleet of drivers with AI. The real shame is none of them can claim unemployment.
What actually happened when it was confused?
It froze in place causing frustration from drivers. I called up Waymo support using the touch screen in the car. I don't think they did anything, but eventually it drove ahead. I was stuck for maybe 5 minutes.
I had a similar experience when it froze for a minute while picking me up. All in all it was still a great ride. Cheaper than an Uber, smoother ride, better car, and no small talk or bad music.
The adage that people overestimate what a technology can do in 5 years and underestimate what it can do in 10 seems apt for self driving. The pendulum swung too much - it’s definitely not vapor ware at this point.
I think it depends on profitability, and that’s hard to judge from the outside. If they’re not profitable then I expect them to eventually stop expanding, like Google Fiber did.
On the other hand, Google Fiber is apparently expanding again, after pausing for many years?
If they do become profitable, Waymo benefits from high barriers to entry.
Buying and equipping a fleet of cars is pretty capital intensive and it’s unclear how long they’ll last. If they’re well maintained, perhaps they would do well on the used market after being decommissioned?
Unless you’re listening to Elon Musk intending to replace trains with his cars.
From the article:
…
Obligatory link to the How Self-Driving Cars Will Destroy Cities thread that's ongoing. I thought it was a really insightful video from a point of view that's not often considered in these discussions.
At least in SF I don’t think this is applicable. It’s already a very walkable city and we just passed a tax on ride share companies to subsidize our public transit.
It's walkable, though not without its issues. 2024 has seen more pedestrian deaths because of motor vehicles than in any year since 2014, a sad blemish on the ten year anniversary of City Hall's promises to have reached zero pedestrian fatalities by this year.
I assume this is related to the lack of policing. The SFPD basically stopped giving out tickets in 2020.
To some extent, but most of the deaths weren't from dramatic events that might have gotten a ticket, but little moments of inattentiveness on the part of drivers. The new intersection daylighting law that's going to be enforced starting in January will do a lot more to save lives than any number of tickets from the police. Without cars parked within 20 feet of any marked or unmarked crosswalk, pedestrians will be visible far sooner and much less likely to be hit by a driver turning right while looking left. That's the #1 cause of death and injury, and kudos to the state government for working to fix it when city politicians dragged their feet in the face of unhappy community members.
That’s great news to me as someone that never has to park a car in the city.
Yeah... it's estimated to eliminate a full 5% of all street parking in the city, which has some people frothing at the mouth. But practically, we dedicate a huge amount of city infrastructure and square footage to people being able to store their cars for free. Cutting that back a bit so that people don't get injured or killed by cars quite so often seems like a decent tradeoff.
Just as an FYI, prop L did not pass despite getting more than 50%. Prop M included a poison pill where if it got more votes than L then L would not take effect. And M got more votes...
The video specifically uses SF as aan example. Worth a watch imho.
Fun fact: Waymo is now advertising at Z&Y Peking Duck in SF’s chinatown through QR codes inside of fortune cookies.