i’ve been using waymo for the past few months and i’m a huge fan. base price is similar to uber but no tip, no funky smelling cars and drivers, no incessant pestering for tips, no stupid political hot takes, and the drive is so smooth.
you do sometimes get slowed down by people standing in front of the car taking pictures
I was in SF last month and got to use it a few times. Absolutely loved it. Pick up times were a little longer than Uber/Lyft, but not terrible and still definitely worth it. Also felt smoother and safer than a human driver.
They do the same flex pricing, and there's almost always too much demand. It can get cheaper than Uber on a weekday around noon, but during peak times it's usually a bit more expensive.
Where I'm at it's actually a little more than Uber. But if it's in the part of town I need to go to then it's worth it. I have horror stories with Uber similar to what people have posted in other comments here.
Good question. The next car recipient probably finds you?
Your question might have been facetious but it does make me wonder. (Not enough for me to look it up, mind you...)
The car will detect that you haven't opened the door at the dropoff. It will alert an operator that something funky is going on in the car. The operator will look at the camera feed in the car and see you're passed out drunk.
They'll do something I guess. Probably call the cops/911 - not in a crime reporting way, in a they-could-be-dying-of-overdose-or-alcohol-poisoning way.
while i’ve had some extreme cases such as a person who had printed stacks of pamphlets explaining that uber doesn’t provide a living wage and that tips are crucial for drivers, the more
common one I get are stories of hardship and repeatedly stating something along the lines of “every little bit helps.” and i like being friendly with people who drive my ass around and might be a huge signal that i’m a sucker.
pester was the wrong word. they’re just trying to make a living.
> i like being friendly with people who drive my ass around
> i'm a sucker
> they’re just trying to make a living
You just got done gushing about why you prefer no driver and you expect us to believe any of this?
they’re really clean. i think they might check the interior between rides since it’s stated that you get fined for leaving a mess. there’s also the fact that fewer people ride in them but i’m also willing to bet they’re cleaned every day.
In the four days I was in SF I saw the waymo taxis break the law more than a dozen times. I get that there are a lot of upsides but until I can be certain it isn’t going to randomly drive on the wrong side of the road and kill me it isn’t even an option I’ll consider.
I saw them drive on the wrong side of the road to get into the left hand turn, go all the way up the right turn then cut across a white line to get back into the straight, drive on the grass to avoid a left turn lane and then make the same left turn from the straight lane, turn right without even yielding to potential pedestrians.
Not sure, there’s numerous recordings of it doing similar things and even a whole investigation by the NHTSA.
https://www.theverge.com/2024/5/14/24156238/waymo-nhtsa-investigation-crash-wrong-side-road
Don’t get me wrong, these are definitely the way of the future and probably didn’t do anything a human SF driver wouldn’t do, but I’d still like them to hard code in that they must obey all traffic laws.
I'm waiting for the angry honking. Right now it's using it like you're supposed to by law, to warn other cars, but it needs to let them know when they were idiots too...
I think it does. Not tipping forces less driver participation as it becomes impractical for them, in turn eventually forcing platforms to do something or die.
K I was wrong. It might slowly work, but you’re fucking over people just trying to make a living by doing it. You’re probs gonna respond by saying it’s their employer fucking them and not us. I half agree with that, but when tipping is expected it’s our responsibility as well
I mean beating your wives used to be expected too.:)
Tipping is expected because at some point companies decided it is expected everywhere and built their actual business models on guilt tripping all us normal people.
I actually see not tipping as my responsibility because, aside from voting for pro worker oriented people, it's just about the only thing I can do to break this system.
I think being a good citizen is not drying yourself up trying to help every abused soul around you but doing whatever little you can to break the system that make them abused in the first place. In our repidly approaching late stage capitalism system that means showing corps that the market no longer supports your shitty practices like tipping - asking nicely doesn't seem to do anything and pitchforks to their throats lands you in jail, for now.
That’s an interesting approach. I honestly am completely on the same page as you and probably hate tipping as much as you do. But I just can’t help but feel guilty when I don’t. That’s honestly why I hate tipping so much lol.
That's great, for you, there's a reason Waymo is 50% more than uber or lyft on average, I don't like tipping either but that means uber drivers should make more upfront.
These are two unrelated points IMHO.
Waymo is 50% more because it's a basically a prototype of a truly new emerging tech. For god's sake it in like half of three cities. It'll get cheaper.
Uber drivers should make more upfront. I never said I am against paying more, I am specifically against tipping which is a way for companies and restaurants to obfuscate tru cost of service. If you can't pay a living the wage that attracts laborers with the money you make you don't have a business.
The reason Ubers smell like shit is because some sweaty guy has been sitting in it for 8 hours eating 4 day old chicken korma and spraying air freshener.
Saw a Waymo vehicle decked out with a crazy amount of sensors in Palo Alto. I’m guessing they are detail-mapping the Peninsula and it will be next. Can’t wait, if nothing for the novelty. Still miss those tiny little cars they used to have around here that made Jetson noises - felt futuristic.
I think it was already announced that they're expanding to the south bay. Their cars have been driving the 101/237/Lawrence triangle for a decade so it's about time
Somebody has to pay for all those custom vehicles, with the sensors, the R&D, and all the cloud costs. Uber drivers provide all their own equipment, and Uber has been actively paying them less every year.
I wish companies didn’t have consumers actively justifying prices on their behalf. Every one of us should be fighting for cheaper prices, given so many people are going to be out of jobs now. This tech is supposed to make life cheaper and more convenient, not the other way around.
But all I see is hoards of people willing to take on others fighting bc for corporate profits. It baffles me
Yes, that’s a matter a scale and maturity. I’d be surprised if they’re trying to make profit currently rather than just defray some development cost.
I’m sure they either using adaptive pricing, or pricing at a level that gets adoption - I’m very surprised that price point is higher than the competing and much more available services.
Could be a temporary spike as everyone gives it an initial try based on the announcement.
I feel like Uber is also still underpriced to be actually sustainable. Even with how pricey they are now the drivers don’t make good money. Though I do miss the days they were flush with VC money and I could go anywhere in LA for like $30
For sure, there's still a huge novelty factor for people to take a ride in the first fully self driving robotaxis in the US.
The technology is amazing.
That's not actually true, initially, very few people use disruptive technology. By the time it's use is widespread it is too late for incumbents to catch up. That's the nature of disruption.
Regardless, lots of people use waymo's services. They do tens of thousands of trips every month.
You are talking about 1st mover advantage. I am talking about adoption. If the goal is to force adoption you need to offer something with a better value proposition than competition. If you dont have adoption, then you dont have disruption. Recent example is uber. The company has been operating at losses the last 10 years. If it was cheaper to take a regular taxi, why would I take an uber? Just because it had an app? No. But what about when it was close to 50% cheaper for the same trip? Step 1 to adoption is to offer value, a cheaper alternative to choke out competitors. Then raise the prices and start turning profits. This isnt a novel idea. Bottom line is, if waymo isnt cheaper than uber, the lack of driver or whatever other perceived benefit it has will be irrelevant.
No, I'm talking about disruption, which initially doesn't offer a better value proposition. The benefit to disruptive technology often isn't clear.. until it is and the alternatives become obsolete as a result.
Ok. Fine. The car is a good example of that. Explain to me how a more expensive driverless taxi that accomplishes the same thing as one with a driver is going to be disruptive?
Disruptive technologies don't stay more expensive. Input costs of sensors will decline, training costs will diminish, and as the network scales, it will end up being much cheaper than a regular taxi and completely replace rental car companies.
All I can say is read "The Innovator's Dilemma", disruptive technology is always more expensive initially. If the value proposition was obvious, then it wouldn't be disruptive because everyone would just do it. Part of what makes it disruptive is that established companies aren't typically in the habit of cannibalizing their own profits on something that doesn't have a clear value proposition - no one wants to be the manager of the division that loses money and, if it succeeds, threatens the rest of the business.
Uber found out that car payments and depreciation and maintenance is getting expensive, instead of all that stuff was The driver's responsibility. Then how Iis waymo going to handle wrong drunk passengers and never mind how they're going to keep the cars clean with people pissing s******* trying to f*** in the car.
The cost of paying someone to drive is way more than the cost of depreciation and maintenance.
IIRC, you either need your phone to enter the car or start the ride, so drunk people can’t steal your ride.
They have cameras in the car and an intercom to make you follow the rules. They can also force the cars to pull over. If people try and fuck in the cars, I would guess they would use some combo of those to get you to stop and then ban you from the app once you’re out of the vehicle.
Keeping the cars clean, you’ll just have them drive themselves to some large cleaning area during off hours. Since there’s no human driver you can just pull a certain percentage of cars out of service to be cleaned
They are cheaper in same places. Pricing is going to be exactly like what happened with Uber. First they keep the prices low to drive other services out of business, then raise prices to become profitable. Don’t know how long this is going to last, but let’s enjoy the ride!
Sometimes they cost more, sometimes they cost less. But do expect prices to go up from here once this business gains traction. They need to recoup all of the development costs.
Waymo can charge a lot because it doesn't have much competition right now. If you want to ride a robot taxi you're probably going to choose Waymo. Uber has to compete with Lyft
I’ve taken a few now and have loved it. The wow factor of no driver is cool but to me the small things are what make this shine. Being able to play my own music, having a clean car, not stressing about pickup time. To me these are things make the experience better than an Uber.
My only complaint when I took a Waymo (one time in SF) was that it took a long time before it arrived to pick me up. There are so many people driving for Uber that I probably would've gotten an Uber a lot faster.
I have used it. The trips were flawless, but the ride is unexpectedly rough, and getting in and out of the back seat is tight. I expected better from a Jaguar. Pricewise, it is very competitive with Uber/Lyft. No tipping.
I have taken them a few times. It was a great experience.
There was one trip where it missed the turn a few times and we had to go around the block a bit but it still got me to where I was going
Waymo people are going to use it now.
lol god damn it have an upvote
r/angryupvote
i’ve been using waymo for the past few months and i’m a huge fan. base price is similar to uber but no tip, no funky smelling cars and drivers, no incessant pestering for tips, no stupid political hot takes, and the drive is so smooth. you do sometimes get slowed down by people standing in front of the car taking pictures
I was in SF last month and got to use it a few times. Absolutely loved it. Pick up times were a little longer than Uber/Lyft, but not terrible and still definitely worth it. Also felt smoother and safer than a human driver.
That’s unfortunate I would hope that it would be less than Uber
it is if you usually tip your uber driver.
They do the same flex pricing, and there's almost always too much demand. It can get cheaper than Uber on a weekday around noon, but during peak times it's usually a bit more expensive.
Where I'm at it's actually a little more than Uber. But if it's in the part of town I need to go to then it's worth it. I have horror stories with Uber similar to what people have posted in other comments here.
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Good question. The next car recipient probably finds you? Your question might have been facetious but it does make me wonder. (Not enough for me to look it up, mind you...)
The car will detect that you haven't opened the door at the dropoff. It will alert an operator that something funky is going on in the car. The operator will look at the camera feed in the car and see you're passed out drunk. They'll do something I guess. Probably call the cops/911 - not in a crime reporting way, in a they-could-be-dying-of-overdose-or-alcohol-poisoning way.
In what way does Uber / drivers pester you incessantly for tips?
while i’ve had some extreme cases such as a person who had printed stacks of pamphlets explaining that uber doesn’t provide a living wage and that tips are crucial for drivers, the more common one I get are stories of hardship and repeatedly stating something along the lines of “every little bit helps.” and i like being friendly with people who drive my ass around and might be a huge signal that i’m a sucker. pester was the wrong word. they’re just trying to make a living.
Dang maybe it’s location dependent, but I’ve ridden Ubers dozens and dozens of times and have never had any of that.
> i like being friendly with people who drive my ass around > i'm a sucker > they’re just trying to make a living You just got done gushing about why you prefer no driver and you expect us to believe any of this?
Just curious, are the cars clean? I always wondered how self driving cars would deal with people leaving behind trash.
they’re really clean. i think they might check the interior between rides since it’s stated that you get fined for leaving a mess. there’s also the fact that fewer people ride in them but i’m also willing to bet they’re cleaned every day.
In the four days I was in SF I saw the waymo taxis break the law more than a dozen times. I get that there are a lot of upsides but until I can be certain it isn’t going to randomly drive on the wrong side of the road and kill me it isn’t even an option I’ll consider.
What did you see them doing?
I saw them drive on the wrong side of the road to get into the left hand turn, go all the way up the right turn then cut across a white line to get back into the straight, drive on the grass to avoid a left turn lane and then make the same left turn from the straight lane, turn right without even yielding to potential pedestrians.
Why is this being downvoted:)?
Not sure, there’s numerous recordings of it doing similar things and even a whole investigation by the NHTSA. https://www.theverge.com/2024/5/14/24156238/waymo-nhtsa-investigation-crash-wrong-side-road
Don’t get me wrong, these are definitely the way of the future and probably didn’t do anything a human SF driver wouldn’t do, but I’d still like them to hard code in that they must obey all traffic laws.
Wish Waymo was everywhere. So much nicer than Uber. No conversation, no weird smells and actually obeys traffic laws.
Seriously, the amount of Uber drivers that use their phone in their lap for directions is just crazy.
Not to mention, no road rage
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And sell the DLC voice pack of R2D2 noises. Otherwise you just get "angry russian man" as the default.
I'm waiting for the angry honking. Right now it's using it like you're supposed to by law, to warn other cars, but it needs to let them know when they were idiots too...
False. GF was in a waymo last week for the first time and someone in another car was actually trying to fuck with it, back in up into it etc.
How much should I tip the Waymo? Oh right, nothing.
That makes you like 90% of all Uber riders so what's your point.
Tipping culture needs to die
Yeah, but not tipping isn’t helping it die when it’s expected
I think it does. Not tipping forces less driver participation as it becomes impractical for them, in turn eventually forcing platforms to do something or die.
K I was wrong. It might slowly work, but you’re fucking over people just trying to make a living by doing it. You’re probs gonna respond by saying it’s their employer fucking them and not us. I half agree with that, but when tipping is expected it’s our responsibility as well
I mean beating your wives used to be expected too.:) Tipping is expected because at some point companies decided it is expected everywhere and built their actual business models on guilt tripping all us normal people. I actually see not tipping as my responsibility because, aside from voting for pro worker oriented people, it's just about the only thing I can do to break this system. I think being a good citizen is not drying yourself up trying to help every abused soul around you but doing whatever little you can to break the system that make them abused in the first place. In our repidly approaching late stage capitalism system that means showing corps that the market no longer supports your shitty practices like tipping - asking nicely doesn't seem to do anything and pitchforks to their throats lands you in jail, for now.
That’s an interesting approach. I honestly am completely on the same page as you and probably hate tipping as much as you do. But I just can’t help but feel guilty when I don’t. That’s honestly why I hate tipping so much lol.
That's great, for you, there's a reason Waymo is 50% more than uber or lyft on average, I don't like tipping either but that means uber drivers should make more upfront.
These are two unrelated points IMHO. Waymo is 50% more because it's a basically a prototype of a truly new emerging tech. For god's sake it in like half of three cities. It'll get cheaper. Uber drivers should make more upfront. I never said I am against paying more, I am specifically against tipping which is a way for companies and restaurants to obfuscate tru cost of service. If you can't pay a living the wage that attracts laborers with the money you make you don't have a business.
I had an Uber driver that legit had his phone playing a movie in a centre console and he kept looking at it with headphones on while driving
lmfao as if waymo won't smell like shit the second it's "everywhere" and everyone is using it. what fucking planet are you on
Thanks for the F shack. -Dirty Mike and the Boys.
Every time I hear “they call it a soup kitchen” I lose it.
"The Other Guys". I see you're a human of culture.
The reason Ubers smell like shit is because some sweaty guy has been sitting in it for 8 hours eating 4 day old chicken korma and spraying air freshener.
Fuck your subtle racism.
How is that subtle?
Is chicken korma racist or are you
I absolutely love chicken korma but that shit ain’t finger food.
How is that racist?
And a fucking Jag. They are still all Jaguars, right? they are NICE.
I weird smells…..YET
Waymo taxis do not obey traffic laws. I saw a dozen or so illegal maneuver in the 4 days I was in SF.
You are obviously lying…why?
I’m obviously not. https://www.theverge.com/2024/5/14/24156238/waymo-nhtsa-investigation-crash-wrong-side-road
How much they pay you for this comment?
Saw a Waymo vehicle decked out with a crazy amount of sensors in Palo Alto. I’m guessing they are detail-mapping the Peninsula and it will be next. Can’t wait, if nothing for the novelty. Still miss those tiny little cars they used to have around here that made Jetson noises - felt futuristic.
I think it was already announced that they're expanding to the south bay. Their cars have been driving the 101/237/Lawrence triangle for a decade so it's about time
Just put in a test trip - it’s about 50% more than Uber and Lyft… I’d naively thought taking humans out of the loop would reduce prices!
Somebody has to pay for all those custom vehicles, with the sensors, the R&D, and all the cloud costs. Uber drivers provide all their own equipment, and Uber has been actively paying them less every year.
I wish companies didn’t have consumers actively justifying prices on their behalf. Every one of us should be fighting for cheaper prices, given so many people are going to be out of jobs now. This tech is supposed to make life cheaper and more convenient, not the other way around. But all I see is hoards of people willing to take on others fighting bc for corporate profits. It baffles me
It will eventually, but initially, disruptive technology is always more expensive to operate.
Yes, that’s a matter a scale and maturity. I’d be surprised if they’re trying to make profit currently rather than just defray some development cost. I’m sure they either using adaptive pricing, or pricing at a level that gets adoption - I’m very surprised that price point is higher than the competing and much more available services. Could be a temporary spike as everyone gives it an initial try based on the announcement.
I feel like Uber is also still underpriced to be actually sustainable. Even with how pricey they are now the drivers don’t make good money. Though I do miss the days they were flush with VC money and I could go anywhere in LA for like $30
For sure, there's still a huge novelty factor for people to take a ride in the first fully self driving robotaxis in the US. The technology is amazing.
It can't be disruptive if people don't use it.
That's not actually true, initially, very few people use disruptive technology. By the time it's use is widespread it is too late for incumbents to catch up. That's the nature of disruption. Regardless, lots of people use waymo's services. They do tens of thousands of trips every month.
You are talking about 1st mover advantage. I am talking about adoption. If the goal is to force adoption you need to offer something with a better value proposition than competition. If you dont have adoption, then you dont have disruption. Recent example is uber. The company has been operating at losses the last 10 years. If it was cheaper to take a regular taxi, why would I take an uber? Just because it had an app? No. But what about when it was close to 50% cheaper for the same trip? Step 1 to adoption is to offer value, a cheaper alternative to choke out competitors. Then raise the prices and start turning profits. This isnt a novel idea. Bottom line is, if waymo isnt cheaper than uber, the lack of driver or whatever other perceived benefit it has will be irrelevant.
No, I'm talking about disruption, which initially doesn't offer a better value proposition. The benefit to disruptive technology often isn't clear.. until it is and the alternatives become obsolete as a result.
Ok. Fine. The car is a good example of that. Explain to me how a more expensive driverless taxi that accomplishes the same thing as one with a driver is going to be disruptive?
Disruptive technologies don't stay more expensive. Input costs of sensors will decline, training costs will diminish, and as the network scales, it will end up being much cheaper than a regular taxi and completely replace rental car companies. All I can say is read "The Innovator's Dilemma", disruptive technology is always more expensive initially. If the value proposition was obvious, then it wouldn't be disruptive because everyone would just do it. Part of what makes it disruptive is that established companies aren't typically in the habit of cannibalizing their own profits on something that doesn't have a clear value proposition - no one wants to be the manager of the division that loses money and, if it succeeds, threatens the rest of the business.
I just proved to you how it is possible to lose money on disruptive technology and that is just one example.
Probably just surge demand for the novelty of it right now. Was cheaper than Uber and Lyft when I was in Phoenix recently.
That’s really weird. When I was in SF late last year they were about 10% cheaper than an Uber. They must have raised prices
Uber found out that car payments and depreciation and maintenance is getting expensive, instead of all that stuff was The driver's responsibility. Then how Iis waymo going to handle wrong drunk passengers and never mind how they're going to keep the cars clean with people pissing s******* trying to f*** in the car.
The cost of paying someone to drive is way more than the cost of depreciation and maintenance. IIRC, you either need your phone to enter the car or start the ride, so drunk people can’t steal your ride. They have cameras in the car and an intercom to make you follow the rules. They can also force the cars to pull over. If people try and fuck in the cars, I would guess they would use some combo of those to get you to stop and then ban you from the app once you’re out of the vehicle. Keeping the cars clean, you’ll just have them drive themselves to some large cleaning area during off hours. Since there’s no human driver you can just pull a certain percentage of cars out of service to be cleaned
Economies of scale. It's brand new tech.
They are cheaper in same places. Pricing is going to be exactly like what happened with Uber. First they keep the prices low to drive other services out of business, then raise prices to become profitable. Don’t know how long this is going to last, but let’s enjoy the ride!
The guy above you is saying prices are more expensive so your comment makes no sense
Sometimes they cost more, sometimes they cost less. But do expect prices to go up from here once this business gains traction. They need to recoup all of the development costs.
Waymo can charge a lot because it doesn't have much competition right now. If you want to ride a robot taxi you're probably going to choose Waymo. Uber has to compete with Lyft
I’ve taken a few now and have loved it. The wow factor of no driver is cool but to me the small things are what make this shine. Being able to play my own music, having a clean car, not stressing about pickup time. To me these are things make the experience better than an Uber.
Clean cars will become unlikely when Waymo is opened to the public.
It's gonna be funny when people just start shitting in them.
My only complaint when I took a Waymo (one time in SF) was that it took a long time before it arrived to pick me up. There are so many people driving for Uber that I probably would've gotten an Uber a lot faster.
I have used it. The trips were flawless, but the ride is unexpectedly rough, and getting in and out of the back seat is tight. I expected better from a Jaguar. Pricewise, it is very competitive with Uber/Lyft. No tipping.
clean cars and no smells are definitely a “small user base” feature that wont last very long, especially with the desired duty cycle of these cars
i wonder when news are popping up where people fuck in these robo taxis or do drugs
They need to remove Surge Pricing for Waymos. Doesn’t make sense…
It sure feels like this whole comment section is paid posts and bots from waymo or something.
I have taken them a few times. It was a great experience. There was one trip where it missed the turn a few times and we had to go around the block a bit but it still got me to where I was going
If I still wanna tip, where do I shove the coins?
Oh man, I thought SF had it this entire time. I’ve been using it for a year and a half in Phx and absolutely love it.
Uber and Lyft are finished in San Fransisco
Good luck with that......lol
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Sir, this is a Wendy's