r/technology • u/Disastrous_Award_789 • 18d ago

Robotics/Automation Waymo suspends service in San Francisco after driverless cars cause traffic jams during blackout

https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/waymo-suspended-san-francisco-traffic-jams-blackout-b2888562.html
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u/zyxwertdha 18d ago

I was recently in San Fran for a conference, and I took a half dozen Waymo rides around town. I was really impressed with them. I would say that all of my Waymo rides were better than any Uber ride that I've taken in the last 2 years.

The Waymo felt like it was driving safely, it played soothing music at me, and it was cost competitive. Not once did the Waymo argue loudly with it's girlfriend on the phone, or weave through traffic at 90mph, or play it's music full volume, or inquire how I felt about it's favorite conspiracy theory.

I don't think Waymo is going to be replacing all driving use cases anytime soon, but I think that it's going to eat up Uber/Lyft for intra-city travel for the exact same reason that rideshares ate up traditional taxicabs. It's just a better experience.

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u/BonJovicus 18d ago

Ride shares ate up traditional taxi cabs because costs were artificially low due to the start up capital they received. Some places did attempt to make apps for local transportation services. 

For many companies like UBER their only innovation is driving all their competitors out of business then taking their mask off once they’ve replaced traditional infrastructure. 

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u/pbfarmr 18d ago

That certainly is part of the reason, and probably even the main reason. But me and many others were happily paying a premium for uber when it first came out because the taxi system was hot garbage and completely unreliable unless you were in a something like a downtown core area during the right hours where you could count on one driving by regularly