Waymo Begins Testing the Waters For a Robotaxi Service In Los Angeles (theverge.com) 30
Waymo announced a "tour across Los Angeles" that allows curious residents the opportunity to ride in fully autonomous vehicles as the Alphabet-owned company begins to lay the groundwork for the launch of a commercial robotaxi service. The Verge reports: Waymo says it will make six multi-week "tour stops" in LA neighborhoods where people can hail a self-driving car without anyone in the front seat. Interested Angelenos can snag early access tickets at several pop-up events throughout the city or sign up for a waitlist. Once they receive a ticket, riders can use Waymo's fully driverless vehicles for free within the service area for one week during the allotted time.
The tour is as follows: Santa Monica and Venice Beach October 11th-November 18th; Century City November 20th-December 17th; West Hollywood December 17th-January 7th; Mid City January 8th-23rd; Koreatown January 24th-February 8th; and Downtown LA February 9th-March 3rd. Waymo's operational design domain -- the area in which its robotaxis are programmed to travel -- stretches from the West Side to Downtown LA, an area that's larger than San Francisco but smaller than its coverage in Phoenix.
The tour is as follows: Santa Monica and Venice Beach October 11th-November 18th; Century City November 20th-December 17th; West Hollywood December 17th-January 7th; Mid City January 8th-23rd; Koreatown January 24th-February 8th; and Downtown LA February 9th-March 3rd. Waymo's operational design domain -- the area in which its robotaxis are programmed to travel -- stretches from the West Side to Downtown LA, an area that's larger than San Francisco but smaller than its coverage in Phoenix.
Allow curious customers to be test subjects (Score:4, Funny)
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Actually, California has over 850,000 millionaires and only 170,000 homeless, so homelessness isn't nearly as rampant as wealth. And the majority of the state's income tax revenue comes from the wealthy segment of the population. The high gas prices are due to the huge state fuel taxes, which the voters had the opportunity to overturn but let ride, so I guess they're okay with that. According to this [247wallst.com], food prices in California aren't particularly high compared to the rest of the country.
But by all means, s
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California just barely made it into the top 10 states with the most millionaires per capita. The top 10 are:
New Jersey, Maryland, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Hawaii, District of Columbia, California, New Hampshire, Virginia, and Alaska Millionaires by state [statista.com]
Millionaires are heavily concentrated in a ring around DC, with the rest scattered around the country, and I found Hawaii a surprise entry at the number 5 position per capita.
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Sorry, I meant to write "early adopters of a poorly tested product." Sorry again, "explorers in a brave new frontier."
I'm curious: how do you know it's a poorly tested product? What would qualify as a well-tested product? How would you tell the difference?
I'll assert "well tested" does not mean "never makes mistakes". I make mistakes driving all the time. I've been in something like 4-5 accidents in less than a half million miles driven. Doing better than that would be a huge win as far as I'm concerned.
I'd rather take transit or a real taxi (Score:2)
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Re: I'd rather take transit or a real taxi (Score:2)
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... preferably with a chatty driver. Self-driving robotaxis = lonelyboxes.
Knock yer socks off. Go 'Merica and God bless free markets!
If a robotaxi is more available and cheaper than a human driver, I'll survive by, oh I don't know, calling a friend, joining a Zoom meeting, listening to podcasts, reading a book, taking a nap, or any number of things I mostly prefer over talking to a stranger. It's not that I don't like talking to drivers, it's just that I can think of a number of things I like better.
Re: I'd rather take transit or a real taxi (Score:2)
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I will take scraps if I can't get a proper dinner.
Like I wrote, knock yer socks off. I'm glad you can find taxis with friendly drivers at a price you're willing to pay. I personally find hired drivers too expensive except in very rare circumstances so I'm mostly interested in lowering the price. I'd like to eat every meal at a three star restaurant too but more often than not it's leftovers.
Re: I'd rather take transit or a real taxi (Score:2)
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Hired drivers are too expensive,
...and yet your initial subject line was about a "real taxi". Which is it?
but taking trains in Eastern Europe isn't. I'd rather share a facing compartment on a train...
Sounds lovely. In the US, the culture frowns on striking up a conversation with fellow travelers. There's a perennial complaint about airline passengers in the next seat who just won't shut up.
...than sit alone in a self driving shit box.
And we're back to the original issue. Why is that your expectation? I'm really curious. Do you expect the vehicle to be uncomfortable? Dirty? Slow? Accident prone? Likely to take you to the wrong destination? Hijacked by hackerz and bombing aro
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US culture actually used to have the reputation for excessively outgoing friendliness ... it's only in the last 15-20 years that people have started cowardcowwing behind smartphones and turned into introverted fuckfaces.
Once again, stinking technology ruins a good thing. I'll keep trying anyway ... worst that happens is that someone who I'll never meet again sees me as weird. I can live with that.
It's funny, though ... Eastern Europe has a past reputation for unfriendliness, but I've had amazing convos wi
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Rarely do I see comments that better evidence themselves than this.
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Why the negativity? I don't want to have to drive. I don't want to have to be driven. I want to preserve communal public transport. I love trains! I don't want technology to ruin a mode of transport that I love more than many things (and people) in the world.
OK, that I can understand. I don't agree but I think I understand.
People probably had the same reactions to trains and cars ruining horses. Shoot, airplanes probably ruined train travel more than cars did. Some (US) people miss having three TV networks where everyone watched the new episode of the current hit show, and for that to be the only conversation people had in the break room the next day.
I'm sorry to say but time marches on. For most of us, transportation is a necessary evil, a time wasting way to
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Train travel hasn't really been ruined in Czech Republic, Austria, and Poland. Attitudes towards tech are more cultural than you'd know. Poland may be investing MORE in highways, but it's also heavily investing in rail ... in fact, the plan is to centralize flights at one airport and have very good rail connections through the entire country.
I plan to vote with my feet to a country that's less techno-optimistic and less wealthy.
maybe when an Robotaxi can pass the knowledge! (Score:2)
maybe when an Robotaxi can pass the knowledge!
So, when problems occur, disaster ensues... (Score:4)
So, when problems occur -- say, a tree across the road, traffic backed up, officer instructing drivers to cross to the opposite lane, drive on the shoulder for X miles, turn left and take the F11 ...
Who does the office instruct when the self-driving car has one occupant: a 11 year old bring driven to a non-custodial parent with visitation rights?.What happens when there are many such cars?
Or what does the car do when the child needs to pee? Or starts to vomit during the trip?
Re: So, when problems occur, disaster ensues... (Score:2)
That there is a lot of edge cases. I want to see it work with LA Traffic in general first. Perhaps all that training around San Fran is good enoughâ¦. Wait and see
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I was just reading news today and there has been a case where a HUMAN driver left a 6-year kid with special needs (younger than 11) on the side of remote road, alone, because the kid missed his stop. He missed the stop because the driver took wrong route and not the one he was supposed to drive. And the kid didn't even pee and vomit.
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So, when problems occur...
All reasonable questions. Given that humans don't often handle those situations well, I don't know why you'd expect a computer to solve them either.
Personally, I'm totally willing to not make the perfect the enemy of the good. Don't want 11yo special needs people stuck in robocars? Don't put them in one. Problem solved.
If you're still not comfortable, don't use one. No one's forcing you to take it. Yes, I can hear your objection: what if I'm stuck behind one which got confused? And that doesn't happen with
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Near as I could tell... (Score:4, Funny)
They're great! They suck! (Score:2)
Robotaxis remain incredibly slow and unpredictable, both. It doesn't take long driving near them to know that you need to route around them with a wide berth. That's part of the reason they appear on paper to be "safer" than non-robo.
What's the public getting out of thousands upon thousands of near misses and the thankfully-still-rare deaths that occur on public roads?
Johnny Cab (Score:2)
without anyone in the front seat autonomous (Score:2)
Fully self driving appears to be more difficult than anticipated, so why should we believe the current crop of Move-Fast-And-Break-Things, Fake-It-Till-You-Make-It companies have nearly mastered it?
Would it not be simpler to assume that the cars are being remotely controlled by some jerk with a laptop?
There was a case when the local cellphone service was overloaded and the robotaxis could not even park themselves safely. Not very autonamous.
https://www.wired.com/story/cr... [wired.com]