Robo-Taxis the Official Thread - they are coming for you Middle America (1 Viewer)

[TripItUp]

So the automated taxi has been fully rolled out in Phoenix, they are all over the place and it was pretty crazy to see.


Will be interested to see them roll out to other major cities in the coming years.

 

[Major]

So the automated taxi has been fully rolled out in Phoenix, they are all over the place and it was pretty crazy to see.


Will be interested to see them roll out to other major cities in the coming years.

For the past year or two Cruise (GM company) has been in test mode here in Houston but still no official roll out. I'll occasionally see the cars stopped for no reason and creating traffic jams. I really think Tesla has a competitive advantage with all their data and love the future business model of folks renting out their cars almost like an Airbnb for taxi service when they're not using them.

 

[McBokonon]

For the past year or two Cruise (GM company) has been in test mode here in Houston but still no official roll out

And there won’t be. GM just abandoned this project. https://www.reuters.com/business/au...eat-gms-decision-pull-plug-cruise-2024-12-11/

 

[Nugget]

So the automated taxi has been fully rolled out in Phoenix, they are all over the place and it was pretty crazy to see.


Will be interested to see them roll out to other major cities in the coming years.

For the past year or two Cruise (GM company) has been in test mode here in Houston but still no official roll out. I'll occasionally see the cars stopped for no reason and creating traffic jams. I really think Tesla has a competitive advantage with all their data and love the future business model of folks renting out their cars almost like an Airbnb for taxi service when they're not using them.

I think Waymo has a substantial lead over Tesla. I expect to see more progress as there will be a push to rollback regulation and make it a federal issue.

 

[Major]

So the automated taxi has been fully rolled out in Phoenix, they are all over the place and it was pretty crazy to see.


Will be interested to see them roll out to other major cities in the coming years.

For the past year or two Cruise (GM company) has been in test mode here in Houston but still no official roll out. I'll occasionally see the cars stopped for no reason and creating traffic jams. I really think Tesla has a competitive advantage with all their data and love the future business model of folks renting out their cars almost like an Airbnb for taxi service when they're not using them.

I think Waymo has a substantial lead over Tesla. I expect to see more progress as there will be a push to rollback regulation and make it a federal issue.

You may be right as I just know Waymo just by name but I'm going to assume it's a Google product? That's the only company I can think of with deep enough pockets and all their Map data.

I think access to Tesla's fleet and network of cars is a significant advantage. I mean how many Waymo vehicles are out there on the road? Tesla is getting most of this data for free from customers of their products. Also, using your own car as a taxi to me is an incredible idea and will significantly lower their costs when the technology is viable.

 

[FreeBaGeL]

So the automated taxi has been fully rolled out in Phoenix, they are all over the place and it was pretty crazy to see.


Will be interested to see them roll out to other major cities in the coming years.

For the past year or two Cruise (GM company) has been in test mode here in Houston but still no official roll out. I'll occasionally see the cars stopped for no reason and creating traffic jams. I really think Tesla has a competitive advantage with all their data and love the future business model of folks renting out their cars almost like an Airbnb for taxi service when they're not using them.

I think Waymo has a substantial lead over Tesla. I expect to see more progress as there will be a push to rollback regulation and make it a federal issue.

You may be right as I just know Waymo just by name but I think access to the fleet and network Tesla has is a significant advantage. I mean how many Waymo vehicles are out there on the road? Using your own car as a taxi to me is an incredible idea and will significantly lower their costs when the technology is viable.

It will be interesting to see as they've both taken very different approaches with different advantages/disadvantages.

Tesla's camera-only based driving is always going to be at a disadvantage to Waymo's LIDAR in terms of the technology and probably safety/reliability. But it is much easier to scale.

Waymo requires constant mapping and developer/engineer work to get their cars to operate in new areas. You can't just plop them down on any road and let them go to work like you can with a Tesla. They are geofenced into areas, but within those areas seem to be much more reliable.

Obviously the changing regulatory environment is a huge boon for Tesla. I don't think their FSD was anywhere near getting approved for driveless operation under current regulations, but now may have a much easier time of that.

 

[Nugget]

So the automated taxi has been fully rolled out in Phoenix, they are all over the place and it was pretty crazy to see.


Will be interested to see them roll out to other major cities in the coming years.

For the past year or two Cruise (GM company) has been in test mode here in Houston but still no official roll out. I'll occasionally see the cars stopped for no reason and creating traffic jams. I really think Tesla has a competitive advantage with all their data and love the future business model of folks renting out their cars almost like an Airbnb for taxi service when they're not using them.

I think Waymo has a substantial lead over Tesla. I expect to see more progress as there will be a push to rollback regulation and make it a federal issue.

You may be right as I just know Waymo just by name but I'm going to assume it's a Google product? That's the only company I can think of with deep enough pockets and all their Map data.

I think access to Tesla's fleet and network of cars is a significant advantage. I mean how many Waymo vehicles are out there on the road? Tesla is getting most of this data for free from customers of their products. Also, using your own car as a taxi to me is an incredible idea and will significantly lower their costs when the technology is viable.

I think there was much more support to renting out your car as a taxi pre-Covid. I don’t want others in my vehicle doing god knows what.

I’m guessing Google is tracking phones to the point where they get more data than Tesla. Android Auto is available in most new cars.

 

[nysfl2]

Waymo has been up and running in the San Francisco area for a few years now. They're available to the public as taxis, and have a very good safety record.

Very strange to be driving in heavy traffic on narrow streets and look over and see an empty driver's seat in the car next to you.

 

[TripItUp]

Waymo has been up and running in the San Francisco area for a few years now. They're available to the public as taxis, and have a very good safety record.

Very strange to be driving in heavy traffic on narrow streets and look over and see an empty driver's seat in the car next to you.

Right. It's just weird to see...in Phoenix it seemed there was one at almost every light. They were all over the place.

The Waymos look very different than the Teslas with a lot more exterior gadgetry.

They do go very close to the speed limit and people seem to drive around them like they would a city bus.

 

[flarkworms]

Waymo taxis are very common on Westside of LA. A few weeks ago, I tried taking one to and from my office (about 3.5 miles). Apart from it taking a different route than I would normally take, it was pleasantly uneventful, even handling a tough merge with aplomb. But it was expensive, $22.00 in each direction. Fun to try once, but I doubt I'll do it again.

 

[Joe Schmo]

Waymo taxis are very common on Westside of LA. A few weeks ago, I tried taking one to and from my office (about 3.5 miles). Apart from it taking a different route than I would normally take, it was pleasantly uneventful, even handling a tough merge with aplomb. But it was expensive, $22.00 in each direction. Fun to try once, but I doubt I'll do it again.

At any point, especially with the merge, did you have an urge to jump up front and take control of the car?

 

[flarkworms]

No. Once I saw the car make a few turns very safely, I really didn't pay that much attention to what it was doing. The merge was at very slow speed, so I was curious but I wasn't concerned.

 

[Eephus]

SF was ground zero for Cruise and Waymo a few years back. Cruise lost their license to operate in California after some highly publicized accidents but Waymo still has a fleet of 300 cars in the city (out of 700 total in the US). Zoox has a smaller presence here and I've noticed some of theirs still have test drivers onboard.

They tend to be concentrated in the northeast quadrant of the city so I see them every day and have gotten accustomed to them. I worry about their ability to see a little black dog so I always call Lou to heel when we cross in front of them. I will say they always come to a complete stop at stop signs which is more than I can say for human drivers.

I've seen Waymos occasionally get confused by double parked delivery vans--they're much more reluctant than human drivers to pull out and go around them.

 

[TripItUp]

I've seen Waymos occasionally get confused by double parked delivery vans--they're much more reluctant than human drivers to pull out and go around them.

those are probably the AI kinks they are working out...hopefully little dogs too.

They are more prevalent in Phoenix, but Phoenix is a perfect, flat grid...having lived in both cities it makes sense why they used both cities as ground zero.

 

[Drunken knight]

So the automated taxi has been fully rolled out in Phoenix, they are all over the place and it was pretty crazy to see.


Will be interested to see them roll out to other major cities in the coming years.

We were out there last feb visiting ASU. Happened to get a couple of waymo on the trip. it was bizarre. Though, streets were not very congested and nothing is really too far away from each other.

 

[TripItUp]

Waymo taxis are very common on Westside of LA. A few weeks ago, I tried taking one to and from my office (about 3.5 miles). Apart from it taking a different route than I would normally take, it was pleasantly uneventful, even handling a tough merge with aplomb. But it was expensive, $22.00 in each direction. Fun to try once, but I doubt I'll do it again.

had no idea they rolled out to L.A. Also interesting that they were more expensive...in Phoenix they actually appeared to be cheaper on the Uber app....that's another thing, pretty cool that they are integrated with Uber.

 

[FreeBaGeL]

SF was ground zero for Cruise and Waymo a few years back. Cruise lost their license to operate in California after some highly publicized accidents but Waymo still has a fleet of 300 cars in the city (out of 700 total in the US). Zoox has a smaller presence here and I've noticed some of theirs still have test drivers onboard.

They tend to be concentrated in the northeast quadrant of the city so I see them every day and have gotten accustomed to them. I worry about their ability to see a little black dog so I always call Lou to heel when we cross in front of them. I will say they always come to a complete stop at stop signs which is more than I can say for human drivers.

I've seen Waymos occasionally get confused by double parked delivery vans--they're much more reluctant than human drivers to pull out and go around them.

Zoox I believe is Amazon, and I believe you are correct, they can operate with a driver in the seat but they haven't gotten the license to go fully driverless yet.

I rode a Waymo last time I was in SF and it worked pretty well. Downtown in heavy traffic, in heavy rain, and it did fine. Our hotel was on the corner and there was a van parked at the normal pulloff slot so it just made a right turn and dropped us there, which was just as close.

 

[Nipsey]

I got approved for Waymo this past summer, before they rolled it out to the general public. Taken it about 40 times. I prefer it far more than Uber. There is something very calming about being alone in a car that's moving but you're not driving. Out here it's a little bit cheaper than Uber's rate and you don't have to tip either. From two weeks ago.

 

[GroveDiesel]

I don’t know if Waymo cars are the same, but I’m a bit reluctant to let my wife/daughter hop in a Tesla backseat after finding out that the back doors often electronically lock after accidents and can only be opened by pulling some sort of release that’s under carpet in the back. Recent news story where two people burned to death in the back seat of a Tesla because they didn’t know how to access the mechanical release and couldn’t get out.

Obviously the likelihood of that happening is extremely small, but the thought makes me queasy.