sprout20 (u/sprout20)

sprout20 commented on Waymo One doubles service area in Phoenix, continues growing in SF blog.waymo.com/2023/05/wa... · Posted by u/ra7

mustacheemperor · 2 years ago

Did you get access from the public beta sign-up list, or some other channel? I've been on the waitlist for over a year and have seen people utilizing Waymo near my apartment, but nothing's budged for me. I did get into the Cruise beta, and that just made me positive Waymo will almost completely replace other forms of car transit for me once it's available, but Cruise is very limited.

sprout20 · 2 years ago

Just public beta sign-up list as far as I know! I don't remember doing anything special besides signing up for the waitlist and filling out a survey, so I guess I just got lucky.

sprout20 commented on Waymo One doubles service area in Phoenix, continues growing in SF blog.waymo.com/2023/05/wa... · Posted by u/ra7

addisonl · 2 years ago

It’s definitely not free, I found rides to be as expensive or more expensive than an Uber/Lyft.

sprout20 · 2 years ago

Jumping back to this thread. My understanding is that the California Public Utilities Commission is the body that regulates this and Waymo does have the approval to provide driverless rides at no charge (Drivered Deployment) but does not yet have the approval it needs to charge for those rides (Driverless Deployment). I think Cruise is the only service that's allowed to charge for fully driverless rides in SF so far.

https://www.cpuc.ca.gov/news-and-updates/all-news/cpuc-appro...

https://www.cpuc.ca.gov/regulatory-services/licensing/transp...

sprout20 commented on Waymo One doubles service area in Phoenix, continues growing in SF blog.waymo.com/2023/05/wa... · Posted by u/ra7

sprout20 · 2 years ago

I've had access in SF for the past few months and have been really impressed! The Waymo rides I've taken have been confident + a bit conservative (e.g. driving at the speed limit when traffic is flowing more quickly), but overall the team's done a great job with the experience. It's free for now so I've been using it regularly during commuting/rush hour and casual drives. Some quick thoughts:

Advantages over Uber/Lyft:

  - Privacy - having the car to yourself is nice!
  - Safety - My friends who are women have almost universally said they feel uncomfortable taking Ubers/Lyfts at night and would prefer the Waymo
  - Ride matching happens almost instantly
  - Estimated pickup times are consistently accurate
  - Trunk is open for use and the car will prompt you to grab your items and open the trunk at the end of a ride
  - Extra legroom in backseat because there's no driver
  - No driver/car confusion - you can set your initials to be displayed on top of the car at pickup

Parity with Uber/Lyft:

  - Drives surprisingly confidently/well - can handle complex urban traffic, pedestrians, cyclists without doing anything obviously "dumb"
  - First-class native app experience
  - Rides are priced upfront
  - Rides can be multi-stop

Disadvantages (today) vs Uber/Lyft:

  - Driving is conservative - nothing above the speed limit
  - Driving is sometimes a little bit jerky (e.g. at stop signs, while inching on a right turn at a red light)
  - Routes can sometimes be odd / longer (usually within 25% of the most direct route)
  - Rarely (<5% rides), car will stop for pickup somewhere odd (middle of lane when there's an available curb, right turn lane)
  - No driver if you leave something behind (there's a support form online, but I left my phone once and a good samaritan happened to call using the emergency number)
  - Pickup times can be longer today than Uber/Lyft as they roll out more cars

Honestly, if they fix the occasional indirect routing and eventually are able to let the cars flow at the same speed as traffic, I'd pick the Waymo almost every time.