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Google Transportation AI Businesses Apple

Lyft Plans Self-Driving Taxi Fleet By 2017 (bgr.com) 77

Posted by EditorDavid from the car-talk dept.
An anonymous reader writes: Lyft hopes to launch a self-driving fleet of taxis as soon as next year, according to reports, arriving in the market years before Apple and Google. "There will still be a human 'driver' in the cars, as mandated by law for the time being," writes BGR, adding that eventually the driver will become obsolete. "But said human will be there solely in the event of a malfunction. Otherwise, Lyft's new vehicles will drive themselves."
Meanwhile, Fortune writes that most analysts believe it will be four years before Apple gets a car on the road, though they're moving in that direction and even hired a Tesla executive last month. They add that both Apple and Google are now eyeing at least 400,000 square feet of Bay Area real estate to use in the development of their self-driving fleets.
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Lyft Plans Self-Driving Taxi Fleet By 2017 More

Lyft Plans Self-Driving Taxi Fleet By 2017

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  • Doing it first, doesn't usually mean you get it right.

    Apple makes good ideas with shitty implementations and make them not suck.

    Tesla and the others will have the Windows CE implementation until Apple gets theirs in front of the public, and then they'll be an android copy of the apple car that .... works ... sorta ... but you'll be tracked 100% of the time by malware because no one other than Apple will treat you as the customer, everyone else will treat you as the data mining product.

    • Re: (Score:1, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward

      Jobs is dead... you can get his dick out of your mouth now

  • Jesus fuck grow up dorks. (Score:2, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward

    "Self-driving" crap is not beyond prototype stage in very specific easy-to-handle road environments where results are reported by the businesses that stand to gain from it.

    The moment even one independently performed and reported test is carried out negotiating the streets of New York, London, Manila and a snowy mountain in the north of Madrid, I'll start to take this shit seriously. Until then, it's just another case of the Press Release replacing the Journalist.

    • I hear you. If they can't handle a sand bag on the road, I'd like to know what they would do about a windrow left by plow in the middle of an icy roundabout, such as the one I encountered last winter.

    • I don't care when you will take this shit seriously. I do care when Lyft will take this shit seriously.

      That said, The summary kind of inflates what the article says, which in turn kind of inflates what the Wall Street Journal article it references says.

  • I totally scored this job where I just sit there all day!

    Sure, it's boring, but I can, like, look into a second job working on line for $55 an hour!

    • Actually, in the beginning, they will probably have real taxi drivers behind the wheel . . . just in case the system goes entirely tits up, and they need to get the passenger to the destination.

      But, gee Wally, won't this be like IT workers training their H1B and offshore replacements? The soon-to-be-unemployed taxi drivers babysit their replacements . . . ?

      • Actually, in the beginning, they will probably have real taxi drivers behind the wheel

        Geez, let's hope not!

      • Actually, in the beginning, they will probably have real taxi drivers behind the wheel . . . just in case the system goes entirely tits up, and they need to get the passenger to the destination.

        But, gee Wally, won't this be like IT workers training their H1B and offshore replacements? The soon-to-be-unemployed taxi drivers babysit their replacements . . . ?

        No. If the AI fucks up and kills some people, the "not-driving driver" will be the patsy, and get blamed for everything.

        This is a giant FUCK YOU to every person who has used their own vehicle for Lyft (or Uber). I know people who have bought new cars simply because of the 'car-newness' requirements of Uber."

        Wow, what a way to piss-off the people who got you where you were, by letting you externalize your costs onto them. Now, as a thanks — You're all fired. (Not 'fired', as they are all 'contracto

  • Is the human driver aspect a make-work program for under- or unemployed college grads who majored in [INSERT USELESS LIBERAL ARTS MAJOR] ? Can't fathom someone sitting idly in a vehicle most of the day, doing nothing. They'd lose their mind.
  • After the driver is eventually ditched, how does lyft intend to maintain the structural integrity of the vehicles interiors? I can see a fun new game called "Shit in a Lyft".

    Possibly invented by the now out of work ex-drivers.

    While everyone is concentrating on the technical aspects of the driverless vehicle revolution, I see precious little about the human aspects.

    Even aside from the destructive folks making a mess out of the vehicles, what about preferences? There are otherwise normal people who h

    • I asked this very question a couple months ago in a thread and people insisted there would be smell sensors and cameras so that the car could drive itself somewhere and clean itself before being used again.

      • I asked this very question a couple months ago in a thread and people insisted there would be smell sensors and cameras so that the car could drive itself somewhere and clean itself before being used again.

        Sure. Many public buses already have cameras observing the passengers. Security cameras are also common on elevators. If someone soils or damages a car, the car can drive itself somewhere to be cleaned or repaired. The cost will be billed to the credit card of the passenger who caused the damage, with the camera recording kept as evidence in case they dispute the charge.

        • I asked this very question a couple months ago in a thread and people insisted there would be smell sensors and cameras so that the car could drive itself somewhere and clean itself before being used again.

          Sure. Many public buses already have cameras observing the passengers. Security cameras are also common on elevators. If someone soils or damages a car, the car can drive itself somewhere to be cleaned or repaired. The cost will be billed to the credit card of the passenger who caused the damage, with the camera recording kept as evidence in case they dispute the charge.

          You figure they will have a camera trained on every passengers crotch? As well, there will probably be minors flashing the cameras so that Lyft is recording kiddie porn.

          See - we can all play that game.

          • You figure they will have a camera trained on every passengers crotch?

            That is unnecessary. The person renting the car is responsible. That is how it already works with rental cars, and with Zipcars [zipcar.com], which are pretty much exactly analogous to this situation. This is already established law.

            • You figure they will have a camera trained on every passengers crotch?

              That is unnecessary. The person renting the car is responsible. That is how it already works with rental cars, and with Zipcars [zipcar.com], which are pretty much exactly analogous to this situation. This is already established law.

              And for the basic person who perhaps hasn't done anything illegal, such aschange a child's diaper and leve the soiled diaper on the seat?

              There are examples of what I'm talking about already - unattended public restrooms. A vehicle with a driver can at least clean up. Not that I'm familiar with cab driver's lives, but I do suspect they have to clean up the cab interiors fairly often. And if the cab has to head back to HQ every hour, that's missing fares.

              Or is this some sort of slashdottian solution w

              • And for the basic person who perhaps hasn't done anything illegal, such as change a child's diaper and leave the soiled diaper on the seat?

                They get charged a cleaning fee, and then they are more careful next time.

                This is exactly how it works now with short-term car sharing services, such as Zipcar, and GoCar. It is the renter's responsibility to leave the car in an acceptable condition for the next passenger.

                • Re: (Score:2)

                  by imgod2u ( 812837 )

                  It's also the same situation with automated public rail systems as well. Or subways. Or monorails. Somehow, they're running just fine and not covered in poop.

                • So tell me, what if you are the second or third person after shitty diaper person? Just contest the bill, and let them take you to small claims court. Seriously, I'll bow out of this because it appears that y'all have every problem taken care of. No driver, but an army of poopy patrol people keeping the taxi's spotless.

                  • So tell me, what if you are the second or third person after shitty diaper person?

                    You call the company and tell them about the problem.

                    Look, there are many companies ALREADY DOING THIS. Zipcar, GoCar, and other companies rent cars by the hour, completely unattended. If you really believe that you have discovered some fundamental flaw in their business model, then feel free to short their stock, and then wait for them to go bankrupt, which according to you should happen any minute. Once you have cashed in your shorts, you can come back here, post a picture of your yacht, and say "I tol

                    • So tell me, what if you are the second or third person after shitty diaper person?

                      You call the company and tell them about the problem..

                      Good to see that you are accepting of shit on the seat. I do not want to get in to a vehicle and find it in the first place. Other people have no issues with it.

                      Which brings up the question - Does fecal matter?

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by MrL0G1C ( 867445 )

        It's simple, if the car stinks, you don't get in it, I expect there will be a way to report such things. Smell sensors also a possibility, I'm not an expect on shit detection.

    • Do you seriously think that Lyft would deploy cars that don't video-record every second of interior and exterior activity from multiple angles, indexed against the full contact information of each user?

      • Do you seriously think that Lyft would deploy cars that don't video-record every second of interior and exterior activity from multiple angles, indexed against the full contact information of each user?

        As I wrote in another post, they could inadvertantly record kiddie porn as well. As well, if someone decided to take a piss, they better have cameras trained on all passenger's crotches. They could have a side business of selling the resulting porn to online companies.

        Seriously, the fact that so many are focusing on technical issues to the questions is just proving my point that everyone is ignoring the human issues.

        • As I wrote in another post, they could inadvertantly record kiddie porn as well.

          The same is true for every security camera in the world. Yet there are tens of millions of them, including in many taxis. How is this any different? Hint: it isn't.

    • Why would a computer care?

      • Why would a computer care?

        Assuming that the question is about neighborhoods to avoid, of course the computer wouldn't care. But the people who take the cab's might. I know a woman who lives in a gated neighborhood, has a saferoom and an ADT system and she's still fearful of people. Especially you know.... those people. Throw in a touch of racism, and now you have a group of people who won't use the services because they don't want to be in a driverless vehicle in a part of town they are afraid of.

        And now you have a problem. Look

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by MrL0G1C ( 867445 )

          The less deliveries you have in an area, the less financially viable it is for the deliverer to deliver to that area. I don't like Amazon, I've even boycotted them, but I can see why they might be delivering to areas that order more.

    • the structural integrity of the vehicles interiors

      If you're concerned about the tensile strength of the carpet fibers, you'll be reassured to know that it actually increases as the dirt and grime accumulate...

      • the structural integrity of the vehicles interiors

        If you're concerned about the tensile strength of the carpet fibers, you'll be reassured to know that it actually increases as the dirt and grime accumulate...

        I suspect that after a while, the interiors of these vehicles will be a little like the interiors of some modern police cars in the back seat. barriers to anything but the rear seating area, and all of that area being constructed of extruded polyethylene so that they can just remove and hose it out at the end of the day.

  • Seriously, they should leave NOW.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by starless ( 60879 )

      Seriously, they should leave NOW.

      Ummm... why?

      I don't think most people drive for lyft/uber as a long term option, and there's little career development.
      So, if it works for you now, why not continue doing it until there's something better for you.

      And it seems highly doubtful there will be mass replacement of drivers in complicated/messy city driving for quite a number of years.

      • Because "social justice" dictates that these drivers should certainly be supporting the right of indolent, rude cab drivers to earn excessive profits for cab owners while doing minimal work with no competition.

        Of course we should be protecting the buggy whip manufacturers at every opportunity. Didn't you get the memo from the Luddite Committee?

  • A self driving car with a human "supervisor" makes no sense at all.

    That would be like being a driving teacher, always anticipating what the car/student is going to do, contemplating if that makes sense and being ready to correct faults of the student and danger coming from other drivers/cars.

    That is much more challenging than simply driving the car yourself and have the car have some active safety features like pedestrian and sign recognition and distance warnings etc.

    I certainly would not use such a taxi .

  • Will be interesting to see what if any effect the recent failure of uber/lyft to buy regulations in austin will be.

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