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California DMV approves map increase in Waymo driverless operations

(www.dmv.ca.gov)
207 points NullHypothesist | 3 comments | 21 Nov 25 22:52 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source
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willio58 ◴[22 Nov 25 00:14 UTC] No.46010696[source]▶
I didn’t think I’d be so pro Waymo but anecdotally I had a fantastic experience with one recently.

I was at a music show very late ~1-2am in SF and walked out to grab an uber to the airbnb I was staying at. I kept getting assigned an uber, then I’d wait 10 minutes, then they’d cancel. Rinse and repeat for 30 minutes, mind you I even resorted to calling Lyfts at the same time and nothing bit. Then I say screw it and download Waymo. 1 minute and it’s accepted my ride, and I know it’s not going to cancel because it’s a robot. 3 minutes and it picks me up. The car is clean, quiet, I can play my own music in it via Spotify, and it’s driving honestly more safely than some uber drivers I’ve had in SF. It’s one of the few things where the end result actually lives up to the promise from a tech company.

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1. gcheong ◴[22 Nov 25 00:34 UTC] No.46010834[source]▶
"I know it’s not going to cancel because it’s a robot"

I won't be at all surprised when they start calculating their profits in real-time, if they aren't already, and cancelling or delaying trips that are deemed unprofitable in the moment. They are robots after all.

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2. bryanlarsen ◴[22 Nov 25 00:43 UTC] No.46010895[source]▶
Waymo already does that through its surge pricing mechanism and limited availability of cars at busy times. And if they really don't want to serve you they'd just not let you book.
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3. maxerickson ◴[22 Nov 25 00:50 UTC] No.46010935[source]▶
No 3rd party arbitrage, much reduced pressure to accept fares they don't want (there's probably still some).