The partnership will launch this fall in Chandler, Ariz., which already partners with Via to offer shared, on-demand rides around a designated zone for a set price of $2 a ride. The service will now include Waymo vehicles among Via’s existing fleet of vans.
Via’s software is geared toward municipalities and transit agencies, as well as universities and companies with large campuses, looking to operate their transportation systems more efficiently with technology that designs transit routes and schedules.
It currently has close to 700 customers, about a fifth of which also enlist its help to actually operate those networks, with the company providing vans, drivers, marketing support or call centers. Some of those clients—especially those with sparse downtowns like Chandler, where traditional bus routes can be inefficient—use Via to offer shared, on-demand rides as part of their public transit.
Via expects that incorporating Waymo into those services will eventually bring down costs, helping its government clients to use taxpayer dollars more effectively, Chief Executive Daniel Ramot said. Public transit systems, and local governments in general, are often late to benefit from advanced technology, he added.
Wow, $2 a ride is basically free... I can't imagine that's remotely sustainable even with huge kickbacks from the government. Wonder how long they're going to keep this going before they have to...
Wow, $2 a ride is basically free... I can't imagine that's remotely sustainable even with huge kickbacks from the government. Wonder how long they're going to keep this going before they have to jack up the prices
In a limited zone with battery powered, autonomous cars I think they could keep it cheap if they wanted, why not? Especially if subsidized by the rest of their business. Now will they? Eh, maybe?...
In a limited zone with battery powered, autonomous cars I think they could keep it cheap if they wanted, why not? Especially if subsidized by the rest of their business.
Now will they? Eh, maybe? If it gets them good brand recognition and good will, gets them more road hours, and doesn’t cost them too much it seems worth it to them. But Tech does love to get customers addicted to cheap prices then rug pull them, so who knows.
The cars themselves aren't free, they're incredibly expensive. The very very very highly paid team of engineers that are constantly monitoring, adjusting, and fixing the software running on these...
The cars themselves aren't free, they're incredibly expensive. The very very very highly paid team of engineers that are constantly monitoring, adjusting, and fixing the software running on these cars are incredibly expensive. The lawyers and salespeople that are responsible for making this whole deal happen in the first place are incredibly expensive. The server costs required to facilitate fleets like this are incredibly expensive.
Nothing about this is cheap for Waymo, they're subsidizing it incredibly heavily and probably losing a ton of money on every single ride; but of course those are RnD costs so it doesn't really count.
$2 dollars is far below commodity price, it probably doesn't even cover the cost of the wear and tear on the vehicle and it's battery, let alone the dozens of other costs associated with running...
$2 dollars is far below commodity price, it probably doesn't even cover the cost of the wear and tear on the vehicle and it's battery, let alone the dozens of other costs associated with running this project. This is basically free.
You can't even ride on a train for 2 dollars these days, let alone order a private car to drive you somewhere
on the other hand, if Waymo becomes the de facto company managing transit, the scalability (and subsidies) would be immense. It can even scale beyond cars and into buses (where the real money can...
I can't imagine that's remotely sustainable even with huge kickbacks from the government.
on the other hand, if Waymo becomes the de facto company managing transit, the scalability (and subsidies) would be immense. It can even scale beyond cars and into buses (where the real money can start to come in).
https://archive.is/7OqTH
From the article:
Wow, $2 a ride is basically free... I can't imagine that's remotely sustainable even with huge kickbacks from the government. Wonder how long they're going to keep this going before they have to jack up the prices
In a limited zone with battery powered, autonomous cars I think they could keep it cheap if they wanted, why not? Especially if subsidized by the rest of their business.
Now will they? Eh, maybe? If it gets them good brand recognition and good will, gets them more road hours, and doesn’t cost them too much it seems worth it to them. But Tech does love to get customers addicted to cheap prices then rug pull them, so who knows.
The cars themselves aren't free, they're incredibly expensive. The very very very highly paid team of engineers that are constantly monitoring, adjusting, and fixing the software running on these cars are incredibly expensive. The lawyers and salespeople that are responsible for making this whole deal happen in the first place are incredibly expensive. The server costs required to facilitate fleets like this are incredibly expensive.
Nothing about this is cheap for Waymo, they're subsidizing it incredibly heavily and probably losing a ton of money on every single ride; but of course those are RnD costs so it doesn't really count.
$2 is close to the commodity price, without competition you'd expect luxury pricing, especially given the, erm, robust R&D involved.
$2 dollars is far below commodity price, it probably doesn't even cover the cost of the wear and tear on the vehicle and it's battery, let alone the dozens of other costs associated with running this project. This is basically free.
You can't even ride on a train for 2 dollars these days, let alone order a private car to drive you somewhere
I would have assumed the same but googling showed that wear and tear may be as low as 50 cents a mile. Depending on trip stats, it could work.
For a regular EV, or for an EV with a significant amount of expensive prototype technology strapped to it?
on the other hand, if Waymo becomes the de facto company managing transit, the scalability (and subsidies) would be immense. It can even scale beyond cars and into buses (where the real money can start to come in).