Waymo

[diplomat33]

Not sure why you're just dismissing it like that.

They tried to get the reason the car broke down and Waymo didn't respond.



IMO your reply just comes off as dismissive without even trying to make a point.

I can change the words waymo/AV into anything and it works, something like:

I am not dismissing anything. But I hate when people say "Can we end this experiment now or does someone need to be killed first?" It is hyperbolic fearmongering from people who want to ban robotaxis. It basically implies that robotaxis are completely unsafe and untested tech that companies are just putting out there to see what happens and that robotaxis are deadly and will kill people. And that is not what is happening. AV companies, like Waymo, have actually been very cautious in how they deploy their robotaxis. They geofence them, limit their ODD, monitor them, And they spent years testing them with safety drivers and only removed the safety drivers when they were ready to do so, and only in a limited ODD. And Cruise and Waymo have published data that shows they are very safe in terms of reducing injuries and deaths on the road. Do they still have issues? Of course. Every new tech has issues. In fact, maybe you could make a case that Cruise or Waymo should keep safety drivers a bit longer. But Cruise and Waymo are fixing these issues. But none of these stalls killed anyone and they won't kill anyone since the cars are stopped. Also, how do these stalls compare to human drivers? People act like it is only robotaxis that are causing these problems when the reality is that human drivers are far worse. Human drivers block traffic too. Human driven cars also sometimes break down or get a flat tire or something. We don't freak out when a human driven car breaks down so why do we freak out when a robotaxi does? And human drivers actually cause accidents that injure and kill people. So maybe we should remove the human experiment from the road since it is so deadly? But no, they want to completely ban robotaxis because on some rare occasions, they block traffic for a few minutes. How silly!

Don't get me wrong. I think the stalls are bad. I've been critical of the stalls, especially the Cruise ones that are really bad. But Waymo and Cruise are addressing the problem. Why doesn't the article talk about the good safety of robotaxis? Instead, these articles just quote a bunch of people who are annoyed by robotaxis and bad mouth them and push the narrative that robotaxis are dangerous. I am just tired of seeing these articles that only push one side of the story and push fearmongering.

 

[flutas]

I am not dismissing anything. But I hate when people say "Can we end this experiment now or does someone need to be killed first?" It is hyperbolic fearmongering from people who want to ban robotaxis. It basically implies that robotaxis are completely unsafe and untested tech that companies are just putting out there to see what happens and that robotaxis are deadly and will kill people. And that is not what is happening. AV companies, like Waymo, have actually been very cautious in how they deploy their robotaxis. They geofence them, limit their ODD, monitor them, And they spent years testing them with safety drivers and only removed the safety drivers when they were ready to do so, and only in a limited ODD. And Cruise and Waymo have published data that shows they are very safe in terms of reducing injuries and deaths on the road. Do they still have issues? Of course. Every new tech has issues. In fact, maybe you could make a case that Cruise or Waymo should keep safety drivers a bit longer. But Cruise and Waymo are fixing these issues. But none of these stalls killed anyone and they won't kill anyone since the cars are stopped. Also, how do these stalls compare to human drivers? People act like it is only robotaxis that are causing these problems when the reality is that human drivers are far worse. Human drivers block traffic too. Human driven cars also sometimes break down or get a flat tire or something. We don't freak out when a human driven car breaks down so why do we freak out when a robotaxi does? And human drivers actually cause accidents that injure and kill people. So maybe we should remove the human experiment from the road since it is so deadly? But no, they want to completely ban robotaxis because on some rare occasions, they block traffic for a few minutes. How silly!

Don't get me wrong. I think the stalls are bad. I've been critical of the stalls, especially the Cruise ones that are really bad. But Waymo and Cruise are addressing the problem. Why doesn't the article talk about the good safety of robotaxis? Instead, these articles just quote a bunch of people who are annoyed by robotaxis and bad mouth them and push the narrative that robotaxis are dangerous. I am just tired of seeing these articles that only push one side of the story and push fearmongering.

Again, re-read my post.

But I hate when people say "Can we end this experiment now or does someone need to be killed first?"

Except, again, that line wasn't in relation to the AV, and instead in relation to the bike lanes as they are part of a pilot program. He's a very anti-car person in general. As evidenced by many of his tweets. The rest of your rant falls apart in the face of that one single point.

Maybe instead of trying to misconstrue a single tweet, you look at their general posts?

Thing's he's tweeted/retweeted since that post:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1688653354497617920

https://twitter.com/x/status/1688652028598538242

https://twitter.com/x/status/1688401678452871168

https://twitter.com/x/status/1688975909943181312

Also note in the tweet you reference he say's "twofer" then goes to make two different points.

1: The bike lanes aren't safe, aka the quote you latch on to "Can we end this experiment now or does someone need to be killed first?"
2: Asking if Waymo reported the incident as required: "Also did @waymo report this incident to @californiapuc?"

We don't freak out when a human driven car breaks down so why do we freak out when a robotaxi does?

Again, he does. Maybe instead of making strawman to then try to eviscerate, check his posts?

Specifically, this tweet:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1688653354497617920

 

[diplomat33]

Again, re-read my post.

Except, again, that line wasn't in relation to the AV, and instead in relation to the bike lanes as they are part of a pilot program. He's a very anti-car person in general. As evidenced by many of his tweets. The rest of your rant falls apart in the face of that one single point.

Maybe instead of trying to misconstrue a single tweet, you look at their general posts?

Thing's he's tweeted/retweeted since that post:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1688653354497617920

https://twitter.com/x/status/1688652028598538242

https://twitter.com/x/status/1688401678452871168

https://twitter.com/x/status/1688975909943181312

Also note in the tweet you reference he say's "twofer" then goes to make two different points.

1: The bike lanes aren't safe, aka the quote you latch on to "Can we end this experiment now or does someone need to be killed first?"
2: Asking if Waymo reported the incident as required: "Also did @waymo report this incident to @californiapuc?"

Thanks for the clarification.

I've just seen many tweets from robotaxi haters who say the same thing "end the experiment before someone dies" that I guess I jumped to conclusions.

 

[DanCar]

Waymo says they received permission to charge for fares in SF.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1689809230293819392

 

[diplomat33]

The CPUC permit also let's Waymo start to give public driverless rides (with no fare) in parts of LA.

https://www.reddit.com/r/SelfDrivingCars/comments/15nxyte

 

[JulienW]

Waymo says they received permission to charge for fares in SF.

Does this also apply to Cruise or are each treated separately? If not it seems a disadvantage to Waymo to charge if Cruise is free.

 

[diplomat33]

Does this also apply to Cruise or are each treated separately?

Waymo and Cruise are being treated separately.

 

[bkp_duke]

Tangential question - why is the UTILITY COMMISSION in charge of . . . robotaxies?

 

[diplomat33]

Tangential question - why is the UTILITY COMMISSION in charge of . . . robotaxies?

I think because commercial ride-hailing is seen as a utility service. But the CPUC is only in charge of the commercial aspect of robotaxis. That is why the permit they granted yesterday was for Waymo and Cruise being allowed to charge money for rides. Waymo and Cruise actually already had permits to deploy driverless cars in SF. And the CA DMV is in charge of the actual deployment of robotaxis. And of course, federal regulators like NHTSA are in charge of safety concerns.

 

[bkp_duke]

Great, something else for the CPUC to scew up.

Living in CA, this entity is the primary reason we have the highest power rates in the country (surpassed Hawaii 2 years ago). Not a group that most Californians trust to complete something correctly or in any kind of efficient manner.

 

[hooty]

Cheers, CPUC.
Cruise & Waymo showing Tesla how its done!!
Cognitive dissonance is a helluva drug, ey Elmo?

 

[ThomasD]

So no more waitlists?

 

[diplomat33]

So no more waitlists?

Waymo says they have 100,000 people on their SF waitlist. Waymo doesn't have enough robotaxis in SF to immediately allow all 100,000 people access to their service right away. Waymo says they will onboard people gradually so as not to overwhelm the service. So Waymo will likely reduce to waitlist over time as they add more robotaxis to the service.

 

[bkp_duke]

Cheers, CPUC.
Cruise & Waymo showing Tesla how its done!!
Cognitive dissonance is a helluva drug, ey Elmo?

Cruise cars cause traffic jam in San Francisco's North Beach neighborhood

A busy night in San Francisco’s North Beach neighborhood proved too much for Cruise cars on Friday.

www.nbcbayarea.com

Yep, Cruise cars causing a traffic jam in SF.

That's certainly "showing Tesla how its done" /S

 

[JulienW]

Waymo says they have 100,000 people on their SF waitlist. Waymo doesn't have enough robotaxis in SF to immediately allow all 100,000 people access to their service right away. Waymo says they will onboard people gradually so as not to overwhelm the service. So Waymo will likely reduce to waitlist over time as they add more robotaxis to the service.

I went on getcruise.com and hit Sign Up Now and entered my info the day after the Staring testing announcement in ATL. Does that mean I would be in a queue (near the top) to get free rides when they start ride testing? Is there anything else I need to do now or will they send me an email when test rides start (assuming they are in the city core in ATL)?

 

[diplomat33]

I went on getcruise.com and hit Sign Up Now and entered my info the day after the Staring testing announcement in ATL. Does that mean I would be in a queue (near the top) to get free rides when they start ride testing?

Yes, I would imagine that you are in some sort of queue. How close to the top of the queue, I don't know.

Is there anything else I need to do now or will they send me an email when test rides start (assuming they are in the city core in ATL)?

Not to my knowledge. You just need to wait until they send you an email with your code to start taking rides.

 

[JulienW]

I downloaded the app but you need an Invite Code to sign up yet. I re added my name again hoping I would get the Invite Code but I nothing so far. Guess they don't send them out until closer to test ride launch.

I know we only have SF and Phoenix that have completed. But think they have also started testing in LA, Austin and Nashville. Any ideas on how long the initial testing lasts before ride share testing starts?

 

[diplomat33]

I downloaded the app but you need an Invite Code to sign up yet. I re added my name again hoping I would get the Invite Code but I nothing so far. Guess they don't send them out until closer to test ride launch.

Yes, you need to wait for Cruise to send you an invite code before you can start taking rides. I think the invite codes are usually sent out when Cruise starts public rides.

I know we only have SF and Phoenix that have completed. But think they have also started testing in LA, Austin and Nashville. Any ideas on how long the initial testing lasts before ride share testing starts?

Only Cruise knows how long the initial testing will last. It could be several weeks or a couple months.

 

[JulienW]

I have a fear that ATL may be selected for a different ride share testing and use some of the suburbs instead of in the inner-city since we are a poster child for urban sprawl. I have ran a couple of times and keeping my eyes scanning but no Cruise spotted so far.

Oh well, just sit back and wait.

 

[diplomat33]

Another JJ Ricks Waymo video:

00:00 Off we go!
00:25 A whole buncha cones
00:45 Stop sign right
01:00 Lane change through a yellow light
01:30 Unprotected left on a curve
02:00 I cannot emphasize how smooth this is
03:09 Unprotected right with traffic
05:10 Unprotected left on yellow
06:05 Cones, bit of lane shifting weirdness
06:25 Wrong way driver and other shenanigans
08:26 Unprotected right
08:50 WAYMO NOOOO WHYYY put it back!!! Please!
09:04 Unprotected left
09:15 Four way stop
09:38 Four way stop
10:01 Unprotected right
12:15 Turning off the main road
12:45 Stop sign
13:04 Three point turn fakeout