# Driver-less Cars Not a Option For Travis



## PingPong (Oct 13, 2014)

Driver-less cars are not a option for Travis. I recall a interview where Travis estimated it as a option untill around 2035. UBer feels and acts as if they already are operating without drivers. No consideration for low pay and drivers footing the bill for cost to travel to passenger, late cancellations, customer lies, wear and tear etc.

If Uber was to replace "partners" with driver-less cars their beloved profits would be reduced dramatically. They would take the brunt of cost instead of handing it off to their "partners". Gas, Wear and Tear, Maintenance, Car Washes, Upkeep of Car, Dings and Dents, Oil Changes all the stuff they get for free at the moment. 

Oh right and buying all those cars when they have thousands of cars at their disposal by simply giving false hopes to people then lowering rates and trying to justify that it will equal more money.

No way in hell Uber would see drive-less as a viable option they have it tooo good they way it is right now.


----------



## UberSonic (Jul 22, 2014)

With driverless cars, you'd see less of the long pickup times, as the cars would be networked to spread out the availability more, a driverless car doesn't care how many rides it gets in a night, so can be stationed in less used areas for that. So you could get away with $.60 per mile effectively. When you consider that IRS considers driving expenses at $.56 per mile, they'd do quite well. Make deals with gas stations to provide a charging dock for a car, perhaps? And with parking garages for the more populated areas. Certainly doable, but rider adoption of the concept would take longer than the implementation.


----------



## Sean O'Gorman (Apr 17, 2014)

Keep in mind that if Uber doesn't own these driverless cars, it's an easy way for someone to make money for their car being used while they aren't even present. If Uber does own the cars, then it still has a positive impact on the economy, in that there will need to be people to clean, service, repair, etc. these vehicles.


----------



## Jay2dresq (Oct 1, 2014)

As it is right now, a driverless car would not be able to keep up with Uber's cleanliness standards. The driverless vehicle has no idea the previous passenger just puked all over the place, as it happily drops the pax off at home and immediately goes back online. Automated vehicles also don't know if the oh so precious water and mints need to be restocked.


----------



## Piotrowski (Sep 9, 2014)

What you guys leave out of the equation is thinking of driverless cars being like the cars we have today. When this comes (and it's when not if) cars will evolve to be a lot of different things. There will be ones designed for different purposes, some made to move just one person for efficiency. There will be no need to build it to survive a crash. Think about it... at least 1000 lbs of my car is there to handle to crash that could happen at highways speeds. That will not be needed in the future, at least not for the ones for inner city transport. There will be ones designed for people that just need to go a few blocks, to ones for people that need to go to another nearby city. You have to think big, as this is far more than you guys are thinking.


----------



## PingPong (Oct 13, 2014)

What I'm getting to is that Uber is nothing without drivers. I tried x for a bit but I can't wrap my head around how when I look on rider app day or night there is always a car near by. How do they continue to operate? Do they have lower commission, maybe all Prius, maybe doing it for taxes purposes to show a loss.. maybe they have tax issues under control and they are confident they will be able to write car and all other cost off.


----------



## PingPong (Oct 13, 2014)

The cost would be way too high for them.. They would rather suck "Parters" dry. If they feel 20% and 1$ fee is fair and necessary. Do you really think they would spend hundreds of millions of dollars on thousands of cars no way. With 20% in LA they are making 16 cents base fare, 5 cents a minute 20 cents a mile. With that 1$ safe rider fee added on top. Adds up when they have all these cars at their disposal with zero cost on the vehicle being used.


----------



## UL Driver SF (Aug 29, 2014)

Uber can't go driverless in California until the vehicle code is rewritten. Then there is the whole drunk driving issue to deal with.


----------



## uberdc/Virginia (Sep 14, 2014)

They don't have driverless trains yet. Plus part of Uber mystique are the drivers who use their cars part time and are suppose to be nicer than cab drivers.


----------



## PingPong (Oct 13, 2014)

My point is that their profits are so high *because *drivers provide the cars, gas, etcc! And the whole being a Taxi but not paying the fees and following the guidelines for regulation. Buying thousands of 60k+ driver-less cars is not a option. In their view they have plenty of brainless drivers..


----------



## Guest (Nov 13, 2014)

I would guess Uber would use a modal where drivers(owners) provide their vehicles for hours when there not using their cars like say when at work etc..the car goes out and makes money and then returns when it's needed by the owner. The owner upkeeps the car and handles liability.


----------



## Guest (Nov 13, 2014)

Jay2dresq said:


> As it is right now, a driverless car would not be able to keep up with Uber's cleanliness standards. The driverless vehicle has no idea the previous passenger just puked all over the place, as it happily drops the pax off at home and immediately goes back online. Automated vehicles also don't know if the oh so precious water and mints need to be restocked.


Uber could easily fix this..when riders rate which would probably be something like a thumb up or down. If the car was stocked with water and clean! Thumb up if not thumb down and the car returns to the owner for a refill or clean..and if there is puke or whatever(the rider flags) and the the puker who would of most likely been the previous rider gets dinged.

Joking here, but future Uber Black drivers would still probably be required to ride along and provide heated towels and messages to riders. Drivers would be like butlers in suites for the ultra wealthy


----------



## ElectroFuzz (Jun 10, 2014)

Driverless cars will become a reality for sure.... but I don't think Uber will be around by then.
All this talk by Uber about it, is just PR to the ears of the media, investors and regulators.


----------



## Piotrowski (Sep 9, 2014)

ElectroFuzz said:


> Driverless cars will become a reality for sure.... but I don't think Uber will be around by then.
> All this talk by Uber about it, is just PR to the ears of the media, investors and regulators.


What gets lost in the talk about driverless cars is how it will play out. Initially, they will have to be built to exist with human operated ones, so I would predict that the first ones will only handle highway driving, then disengage for local driving. (very much like the earlier days of a plane's autopilot). Then the next step may very well be a move to outlaw human operated highway driving, as the safety of computer driving vs human will be undisputable. The argument will be two fold, first tens of thousands of lives being saved each year, and second, cost saving as cars will be able to be built without the extra hundreds of lbs that goes into making passengers survive the numerous crashes. There still of course will be crashes, but they will be as common as plane crashes. It's what comes after that that will be fun as what is a "car" will be redefined. How Uber fits into this is when you will see what they mean when they think of themselves as just a platform. That's where the big picture is.


----------



## uberdc/Virginia (Sep 14, 2014)

I don't expect to see amazon drones to soon either .


----------



## PingPong (Oct 13, 2014)

CabbieGuy93 said:


> I would guess Uber would use a modal where drivers(owners) provide their vehicles for hours when there not using their cars like say when at work etc..the car goes out and makes money and then returns when it's needed by the owner. The owner upkeeps the car and handles liability.


If I was fortunate enough o have a driverless- in the early stages of the technology. I would keep it busy for my personal use and my family, not Uber ******bags. Then the "convenience" of chose your hours while disappear when you want your car back and it is a hour away and counting...


----------



## No-tippers-suck (Oct 20, 2014)

I hear people still talking about driverless cars..

There will be NO DRIVERLESS CARS IN 2035 and there will be still NONE in 3035 !

simply not gonna happen.

Some fellows here saw it correct and commented what about puke in the car..

That's exactly ONE GOOD REASON why they will not gonna happen at all even tho theoretically and technically possible.

People are not ready for them today and also not ready for them in 3035.. Travis will still have to deal with us that's the reality.
But by then all the really good drivers will be gone. Good people always find good jobs. The crap of the bottom will raise.
OR Uber raises the prices to a standard where we make enough money to afford offering a high quality service as Uber was in his very first days.

I'm just saying this:
If Tesla would offer a 75% discount on all models for a few years, EVERYBODY in California will buy one..
when they end the discount people will buy Prius's again.. same for Uber car service : people use it because we are cheaper than a taxi

Again : no worries about driverless cars at least on PUBLIC STREETS.. maybe we see them at places like LAX.. arriving at the Terminal they might bring us to the parking lots and eventually very nearby hotels, but we won't see them anywhere on public streets.


----------



## Sydney Uber (Apr 15, 2014)

Jay2dresq said:


> As it is right now, a driverless car would not be able to keep up with Uber's cleanliness standards. The driverless vehicle has no idea the previous passenger just puked all over the place, as it happily drops the pax off at home and immediately goes back online. Automated vehicles also don't know if the oh so precious water and mints need to be restocked.


Every issue that you raised can be addressed with CCTV and sensors.

If a rider's Farts stinks they'll be hit with a burst of feebreeze!


----------



## No-tippers-suck (Oct 20, 2014)

What about the issue of "human decisions in critical situations?

Why do Airlines still pay for Pilots even if an airliner can technically perform even takeoffs and landing itself?

SAME HERE !

- How would a driverless car react in some critical situations ?
First Human casualty to happen - then they make nice sodacans out of a driverless google car.

that's all bullshit to scare us


----------



## Sydney Uber (Apr 15, 2014)

No-tippers-suck said:


> What about the issue of "human decisions in critical situations?
> 
> Why do Airlines still pay for Pilots even if an airliner can technically perform even takeoffs and landing itself?
> 
> ...


There were many many posts and threads given to this topic. Since then Audi has a race car with driverless technology. (Which begs the question, who would watch a driverless car race? Other Robots?)

Driverless car will have favourable legislative bias afforded to them by policy makers. Technology learns from mistakes Humans repeat them. Why are there still nose to tail accidents? That simple error will not be replicated by robots.

There will still be Human control via CCTV and back to base alarms. If a driverless car comes to a scenario it has not been programmed to recognise and deal with it will default to STOP. Till an operator sorts out a fix.

the fix is automatically uploaded to EVERY other car out there who will now be able to deal with the scenario.

Try teaching your kids that easily!


----------



## No-tippers-suck (Oct 20, 2014)

Thank you for your effort in clarifying I see we have a serious discussion altogether and I appreciate that.

But you will admit that the videoclip is a racetrack where no "stupid Human" is present.
*Which confirms my theory which I stated that :*


No-tippers-suck said:


> People are not ready for them today and also not ready for them in 3035.. Travis will still have to deal with us that's the reality.
> Again : no worries about driverless cars at least on PUBLIC STREETS.. maybe we see them at places like LAX.. arriving at the Terminal they might bring us to the parking lots and eventually very nearby hotels, but we won't see them anywhere on public streets.


It may happen on the day our Mayor or president revokes our right to drive a car ourself on a public street.

As I said I can totally see that happen on aLAX Terminal to parking lot instead of shuttles.


----------



## Sydney Uber (Apr 15, 2014)

No-tippers-suck said:


> Thank you for your effort in clarifying I see we have a serious discussion altogether and I appreciate that.
> 
> But you will admit that the videoclip is a racetrack where no "stupid Human" is present.
> *Which confirms my theory which I stated that :*
> ...


There are huuuge driverless mine trucks working open cut mines here in Australia. Drivers were getting $125k after 6 months probation, working 12 hour shifts, 6days on 1 day off 6days on then flown home for a week by the company and flown back again.

Sadly those jobs are falling to technology that doesn't need a rest and provides the mine owners with lower costs once the capital cost is covered.

I don't feel like standing in front of a tidal wave called technology - who would choose to?


----------



## NightRider (Jul 23, 2014)

Piotrowski said:


> What you guys leave out of the equation is thinking of driverless cars being like the cars we have today. When this comes (and it's when not if) cars will evolve to be a lot of different things. There will be ones designed for different purposes, some made to move just one person for efficiency. There will be no need to build it to survive a crash. Think about it... at least 1000 lbs of my car is there to handle to crash that could happen at highways speeds. That will not be needed in the future, at least not for the ones for inner city transport. There will be ones designed for people that just need to go a few blocks, to ones for people that need to go to another nearby city. You have to think big, as this is far more than you guys are thinking.


In the future, your own, personal, driver-less car will be 3D-printed just minutes before you make your ride request. After it drops you off it will drive itself to the nearless landfill.


----------



## UberLuxbod (Sep 2, 2014)

The differencd between Uber and the Mine Trucks is financial imho.

The Mine increases profit with driverless trucks.

Uber would have to invest its money in the fleet which is worth more than Uber.

They are making money of the depreciating asset of the driver.

The fare reductions are simply to increase wear and tear on these assets so they have to be replaced sooner.

Obviously this applies mainly in markets were drivers have no other options pther than Lyft, Uber and Sidecar.

The fleet value in London could be £20mill minimum depending on fleet size and average car value. (I used 2000 cars)

Original purchase price could have been double that figure.

But few Lux are worth less than £20k and would have cost up to £60k.

A Prius is min £10k for a 3yr old.

Many are newer and rented by the drivers.

No way Uber want to fund the fleet.

No other large PH would want to do that.

Not if they wanted to use those funds to aggressively exoand market share as Uber are doing.

£4k after commission is the offer in London for Dec.

220hrs online.

80% acceptance.

80% pick up and drop in Central Area aswell I think.

Bit harsh that figure is the same for X, Exec and Lux as it shouldn't be.

This now forces drivers to accept fares in dodgy areas and longer distances away.

Which will lead to lack of availability as cars will be unavailable when driving 10/15 mins to the pick up point.

10mins waiting for Pax to show.

And if you get a no show you drive 10/15mins back to where you started.

Great if they are a 1st timer.

All that for free just to keep you in line for the guaranteed pay out.

But how will they pay it?

Can't be week by week.

So must be in January.

And if they look like taking a bath how many will actually get it?


----------



## Sydney Uber (Apr 15, 2014)

Press Release

"Jan 1st 2018

Uber announces majority ownership of Virgin Space Station. 

Uber's HQ relocation to outer space has positioned the company in a new Jurisdiction. Regulators around the globe are at a loss to enforce UN mandated Corporations laws that were designed to reign in technology companies successfully avoiding sovereign taxes.

The newest Uber innovation, "UBERLESS" offering driverless cars had legislators in knots as to whom to issue citations to. 

UN involvement seemed to put a halt to the unauthorised rollout of driverless cars until now. Uber has finally accepted the description of Public Transportation Company - registered in space! 

Legal experts predict this enforcement hurdle may take 5-10 years of multi-government negotiations to work out protocols for enforcing space-based entities."


----------



## NightRider (Jul 23, 2014)

Sydney Uber said:


> Press Release
> 
> "Jan 1st 2018
> 
> ...


Seems pretty spot-on so far..


----------



## Sydney Uber (Apr 15, 2014)

Uber wouldn't be funding driveless cars or the technology - one thing about UBER is they are NOT Dumb!

I run 4 fulltime cars, the 5th is a backup Viano, 3 fulltime and 4 partime drivers. Drivers walk away with 45% of my total earn per job, I get left with ALL the capital and running costs.

if UBER reached out to me and said "Fund 4 driverless cars at 150k each with a $20 per hour guarantee (signed iron clad contract) I'd seriously have to think about letting the full time drivers go.

here is a prior post on the subject:



If driverless cars were approved a fleet operator wouldn't look back, and very quickly get rid of his driven cars.

let's take a few hypothetical elements

the driverless car operates 18 hours a day (give Rodney Robot a rest, and fulfil Teamster mandated rest periods). This allows the vehicle to return to its charging station like one of those robot vacumn cleaners. Whilst working Rodney and his ride have a $20.00 per hour target to hit, or else they get laughed at by all the other units.

Rodney and his ride has 4 weeks off a year to attend conferences and events where there's no drinking but lots of downloads and uploads happening

The maths:

18hrs x $20.00 = $360.00 per day gross
6 days x $360.00 = $2160.00 p/wk
48wks x $2160.00 = $103,680.00 p/a gross

Assume running costs = 25% of gross

$77,760 per year take

2 years to cover Capital Cost of a driverless unit. If I had my Fleet Operations hat on, i'd be able to convince the company CFO, and the Bank to fund any amount of driverless vehicles I wanted. 

Get used to the idea Guys and Gals, this is NOT a long term gig.


----------



## UberFrolic (Sep 18, 2014)

Driverless cars going off a cliff because it malfunctioned during GPS tracking.

Oh joy, can't wait to see those lawsuits.

Honestly we won't see driverless cars in our lifetime. At least in mass market we will NOT see this at all.


----------



## DriversOfTheWorldUnite (Nov 11, 2014)

might as well ask if Uber is going to switch to flying saucers. There are so many technological & social barriers that driverless cars need to go through that we're all gonna be grey-haired before they become mainstream.


----------



## Piotrowski (Sep 9, 2014)

UberFrolic said:


> Driverless cars going off a cliff because it malfunctioned during GPS tracking.
> 
> Oh joy, can't wait to see those lawsuits.
> 
> Honestly we won't see driverless cars in our lifetime. At least in mass market we will NOT see this at all.


There's a meme floating around with famous sayings like that, such as, "people will not want a computer in their home". These were all said by experts in their day too which is what makes them so funny. Only a fool thinks we won't see this within - at most - 20 years, but it will probably be much sooner and on highways at first.


----------



## UberFrolic (Sep 18, 2014)

Piotrowski said:


> There's a meme floating around with famous sayings like that, such as, "people will not want a computer in their home". These were all said by experts in their day too which is what makes them so funny. Only a fool thinks we won't see this within - at most - 20 years, but it will probably be much sooner and on highways at first.


Computers and driverless cars are apples to oranges.

How come we still see human airline pilots? Yeah we all know airliners can essentially land themselves and fly themselves doesn't mean that will be the airliner's main operation.

How come they are still human bus drivers? You would think this one would be driverless by now because buses just go in straight lines 90% of the time.

I do not see mass transit going driverless anytime soon. The technology is there don't get me wrong. It just makes everyone involved a little nervous of potential malfunctions and deaths even if it's a tiny fraction.

The only driverless cars I see in the near future are for the disabled (blind, amputees etc)


----------



## UberLuxbod (Sep 2, 2014)

Had driverleas trains in London for years.

Docklands Light Railway.

Huge network compared to how it started out.

Very reliable.

They sometimes have staff that ride on the trains but that actual driving is automated.

I am sure there will be other examples.

Not having a pop.

Just for information purposes.


----------



## UberFrolic (Sep 18, 2014)

UberLuxbod said:


> Had driverleas trains in London for years.
> 
> Docklands Light Railway.
> 
> ...


Driverless trains on rails is definitely not a problem.

Driverless cars out in the public? Sounds scary of all the variables. If a drunk driver smashes into a driverless car carrying passengers and kills them, even we know it's the drunk drivers fault. The driverless car company will come under scrutiny anyways, ( how come it didn't avoid the crash properly? Why didn't it lift off like a rocket and avoid it) media and the public will come up with so many ways to spin it when there is a death involved.


----------



## UberLuxbod (Sep 2, 2014)

Driverless cars will not happen.

Who is going to borrow the money,to buy the cars in this grand Ponzi scheme?

And driverless cars have practical issues like if the last pax pukes or drops a log.


----------



## UberFrolic (Sep 18, 2014)

Lol a log. I see that happening.

Unloading a Cleveland steamer.


----------



## UberLuxbod (Sep 2, 2014)

Lays a Cable...


----------



## Piotrowski (Sep 9, 2014)

wow the small and limited thinking minds here are a plenty. With that in mind I've have to find that meme of famous bad calls in the tech world, but here are some others. One of my favorites that go along with the theme of this tread was from the NY Times which is 1920 said this: "A rocket will never be able to leave the Earth's atmosphere." They actually issued a retractioon of that in the 60's imagine that. As you read this know one thing, driverless cars are not a question of "if" it is 100% a certainty. The only question is when. (a big part of the problem is you guys don't see what is a "cars" will also be changing). Think big guys, life is too short to be that small minded.Here are some others:


"I think there is a world market for maybe five computers." -- _Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, 1943._

"Where a calculator on the ENIAC is equipped with 18,000 vacuum tubes and weighs 30 tons, computers in the future may have only 1,000 vacuum tubes and weigh only 1.5 tons." -- _Popular Mechanics, 1949_

"I have traveled the length and breadth of this country and talked with the best people, and I can assure you that data processing is a fad that won't last out the year." -- _The editor in charge of business books for Prentice Hall, 1957._

"But what...is it good for?" -- _Engineer at the Advanced Computing Systems Division of IBM, 1968, commenting on the microchip._

"There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home." -- _Ken Olson, president, chairman and founder of Digital Equipment Corp., 1977._

"640K ought to be enough for anybody." -- _Attributed to Bill Gates, 1981, but believed to be an urban legend._

"This 'telephone' has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us." -- _Western Union internal memo, 1876._

"The Americans have need of the telephone, but we do not. We have plenty of messenger boys." -- _Sir William Preece, chief engineer of the British Post Office, 1876._

"The wireless music box has no imaginable commercial value. Who would pay for a message sent to nobody in particular?" -- _David Sarnoff's associates in response to his urgings for investment in the radio in the 1920s._

"While theoretically and technically television may be feasible, commercially and financially it is an impossibility." -- _Lee DeForest, inventor._

"The concept is interesting and well-formed, but in order to earn better than a 'C', the idea must be feasible." -- _A Yale University management professor in response to Fred Smith's paper proposing reliable overnight delivery service. (Smith went on to found Federal Express Corp.)_

"Who the hell wants to hear actors talk?" -- _H. M. Warner, Warner Brothers, 1927._

"I'm just glad it'll be Clark Gable who's falling on his face and not Gary Cooper." -- _Gary Cooper on his decision not to take the leading role in "Gone With the Wind."_

"A cookie store is a bad idea. Besides, the market research reports say America likes crispy cookies, not soft and chewy cookies like you make." -- _Response to Debbi Fields' idea of starting Mrs. Fields' Cookies._

"We don't like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out." -- _Decca Recording Co. rejecting the Beatles, 1962._

"Radio has no future. Heavier-than-air flying machines are impossible. X-rays will prove to be a hoax." -- _William Thomson, Lord Kelvin, British scientist, 1899._

"So we went to Atari and said, 'Hey, we've got this amazing thing, even built with some of your parts, and what do you think about funding us? Or we'll give it to you. We just want to do it. Pay our salary, we'll come work for you.' And they said, 'No.' So then we went to Hewlett-Packard, and they said, 'Hey, we don't need you. You haven't got through college yet.'" -- _Apple Computer Inc. founder Steve Jobs on attempts to get Atari and HP interested in his and Steve Wozniak's personal computer._

"If I had thought about it, I wouldn't have done the experiment. The literature was full of examples that said you can't do this." -- _Spencer Silver on the work that led to the unique adhesives for 3-M "Post-It" Notepads._

"It will be years -- not in my time -- before a woman will become Prime Minister." -- _Margaret Thatcher, 1974._

"I see no good reasons why the views given in this volume should shock the religious sensibilities of anyone." -- _Charles Darwin, The Origin Of Species, 1869._

"With over 50 foreign cars already on sale here, the Japanese auto industry isn't likely to carve out a big slice of the U.S. market." -- _Business Week, August 2, 1968._

"That Professor Goddard with his 'chair' in Clark College and the countenancing of the Smithsonian Institution does not know the relation of action to reaction, and of the need to have something better than a vacuum against which to react--to say that would be absurd. Of course, he only seems to lack the knowledge ladled out daily in high schools." -- _1921 New York Times editorial about Robert Goddard's revolutionary rocket work. The remark was retracted in the July 17, 1969 issue._

"You want to have consistent and uniform muscle development across all of your muscles? It can't be done. It's just a fact of life. You just have to accept inconsistent muscle development as an unalterable condition of weight training." --_Response to Arthur Jones, who solved the "unsolvable" problem by inventing Nautilus._

"Ours has been the first, and doubtless to be the last, to visit this profitless locality." -- _Lt. Joseph Ives, after visiting the Grand Canyon in 1861._

"Drill for oil? You mean drill into the ground to try and find oil? You're crazy." -- _Workers whom Edwin L. Drake tried to enlist to his project to drill for oil in 1859._

"Stocks have reached what looks like a permanently high plateau." -- _Irving Fisher, Professor of Economics, Yale University, 1929._

"There is not the slightest indication that nuclear energy will ever be obtainable. It would mean that the atom would have to be shattered at will." -- _Albert Einstein, 1932._

"The bomb will never go off. I speak as an expert in explosives." -- _Admiral William Leahy, U.S. Atomic Bomb Project._

"Airplanes are interesting toys but of no military value." -- _Marechal Ferdinand Foch, Professor of Strategy, Ecole Superieure de Guerre._

"There will never be a bigger plane built." -- _A Boeing engineer, after the first flight of the 247, a twin engine plane that holds ten people._

"Everything that can be invented has been invented." -- _Attributed to Charles H. Duell, Commissioner, U.S. Office of Patents, 1899, but known to be an urban legend._

"Louis Pasteur's theory of germs is ridiculous fiction." -- _Pierre Pachet, Professor of Physiology at Toulouse, 1872._

"The abdomen, the chest, and the brain will forever be shut from the intrusion of the wise and humane surgeon." -- _Sir John Eric Ericksen, British surgeon, appointed Surgeon-Extraordinary to Queen Victoria 1873._


----------



## Guest (Nov 22, 2014)

No-tippers-suck said:


> I hear people still talking about driverless cars..
> 
> There will be NO DRIVERLESS CARS IN 2035 and there will be still NONE in 3035 !
> 
> ...


Sorry to poo poo on your prade but yes uber will have driverless cars(there are work around to the voment and other issues that won't make it a problem) check out this video of new self driving tesla


----------



## DriversOfTheWorldUnite (Nov 11, 2014)

Piotrowski said:


> "The abdomen, the chest, and the brain will forever be shut from the intrusion of the wise and humane surgeon." -- _Sir John Eric Ericksen, British surgeon, appointed Surgeon-Extraordinary to Queen Victoria 1873._


This one is still true I tell ya. Damn doctors going where they don't belong.


----------



## Piotrowski (Sep 9, 2014)

Here's a race car that is being developed to learn what can be done. This is the future, deal with it. No human can beat a super computer at chess now, driving is just another thing they will be able to do better than humans.


----------



## DriversOfTheWorldUnite (Nov 11, 2014)

Piotrowski said:


> Here's a race car that is being developed to learn what can be done. This is the future, deal with it. No human can beat a super computer at chess now, driving is just another thing they will be able to do better than humans.


I don't think anyone would argue otherwise. What's debatable is how long it will take for these cars to be on the road with real humans around, not super safe and predictable race tracks.


----------



## UberOne (Oct 31, 2014)

Jay2dresq said:


> As it is right now, a driverless car would not be able to keep up with Uber's cleanliness standards. The driverless vehicle has no idea the previous passenger just puked all over the place, as it happily drops the pax off at home and immediately goes back online. Automated vehicles also don't know if the oh so precious water and mints need to be restocked.


also there's no way to ensure pax won't bring in open containers.


----------



## Just Some Guy (Jun 10, 2014)

I'd still like to see how these driverless cars handle snow and ice, with pedestrians randomly walking out into traffic... or what they'll do when several hundred people just start walking in front of it... will it just sit there for an hour waiting for them all to finish crossing the street? What happens when it needs to go the wrong way down a one way street because of a construction detour? Computers follow rules, and sometimes rules need to be broken. Sometimes chances need to be taken. Computers just aren't ready for that yet. It will happen, of that I have no doubt, but not until we have human level AI. Experts are predicting human level AI computers in 2029, but they've been wrong before... in 1968, they said we'd have them by 2001.


----------



## Just Some Guy (Jun 10, 2014)

UberOne said:


> also there's no way to ensure pax won't bring in open containers.


Open containers would be irrelevant in a driverless car. Legally it would be similar to vehicles with separate driver and passenger compartments being allowed to have open containers.


----------



## UberFrolic (Sep 18, 2014)

Piotrowski said:


> wow the small and limited thinking minds here are a plenty. With that in mind I've have to find that meme of famous bad calls in the tech world, but here are some others. One of my favorites that go along with the theme of this tread was from the NY Times which is 1920 said this: "A rocket will never be able to leave the Earth's atmosphere." They actually issued a retractioon of that in the 60's imagine that. As you read this know one thing, driverless cars are not a question of "if" it is 100% a certainty. The only question is when. (a big part of the problem is you guys don't see what is a "cars" will also be changing). Think big guys, life is too short to be that small minded.Here are some others:
> 
> 
> "I think there is a world market for maybe five computers." -- _Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, 1943._
> ...


You should spend way less time gathering quotes and talking about memes on the internet . I NEVER said it was IMPOSSIBLE did I? And you never answered my question as to why is there still a pilot and a co-pilot manning an airliner in 2014? It's still YEARS away that's why. 
I have no problem with uber having driverless cars in 20 years, because this is not a long term gig. If anyone thinks this is a long term job and expect to retire LOL you deserve to be a certified uber slave.


----------



## Neighbourly (Nov 23, 2014)

I would like to see the driverless car find the passenger drunk and mile deep into an EDM festival with every through street within three blocks closed, requiring a rolling pickup on a 6 lane road. They probably wouldn't accidentally go wrong way on a one way street downtown to get the girls to the doorstep of the bar either, come to think of it. The things I do for minimum wage. Good times in the desert!


----------



## Sydney Uber (Apr 15, 2014)

Piotrowski said:


> wow the small and limited thinking minds here are a plenty. With that in mind I've have to find that meme of famous bad calls in the tech world, but here are some others. One of my favorites that go along with the theme of this tread was from the NY Times which is 1920 said this: "A rocket will never be able to leave the Earth's atmosphere." They actually issued a retractioon of that in the 60's imagine that. As you read this know one thing, driverless cars are not a question of "if" it is 100% a certainty. The only question is when. (a big part of the problem is you guys don't see what is a "cars" will also be changing). Think big guys, life is too short to be that small minded.Here are some others:
> 
> 
> "I think there is a world market for maybe five computers." -- _Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, 1943._
> ...


BRAVO! Piotrowski BRAVO!

You clearly have observed the boundaries which many choose to restrict their thinking to - we live in interesting times!


----------



## Sydney Uber (Apr 15, 2014)

An earlier post:

In some ways this whole new "ride" community that UBER & LYFT are building is setting us up for the time when drivers will no longer be required. Don't laugh, it will happen first in the US and other densly populated cities, 10 years later it will hit backwaters like Sydney. Why do you think Google tossed in 100s of millions of dollars into UBER? to get a young, growing client base, who are totally DISCONNECTED from their driver, and only have time for their smartphone and clever APPs. The BIG project that Google is working on IS driverless cars. Google wont get far with that "product" if they dont have a client base ready to go. 

I've been a Chauffeur for decades, and can see the writing on the wall - UBER passengers are so differant to the considerate, educated, engaging discerning clients I'm used to. Dont get me wrong - UBER riders are also educated, but rarely have time for an engaging conversation, or to even consider the human behind the wheel. Its not their fault that they have heaps of emails to do, or calls to make, or APPs to play with, its just the way things are nowadays. No connection other than a clever APP. That's the new relationship youngsters look for, its less fraught with scary human concepts such as conversation and consideration. If UBER/ LYFT Google can get them to where they need to go, then they are indebted to a cold, simple to utilise technology provider not a driver who once needed to be considered and spoken to nicely to get where they need to go.


----------



## No-tippers-suck (Oct 20, 2014)

In the 50s and 60s people believed that we will fly in our little car type personal helicopters to work.. and whoever lives in an apartment in NYC and has no garage or helicopter car,
would fly to work with his jetpack.. well didn't happen either however we still invented jetpacks and minigyros.

Driverless cars (I'M TALKING : *IN PUBLIC TRAFFIC!)* will never be the future and we do not have to deal with it.

Driverless racecars will also not gonna happen ! honestly I see your videoclips that it would be possible and the technology already exists
*BUT :* would people really attend a race cheering at some cars without racedrivers ? Well horses can race without a jockey but that doesn't sound fun as well, right?

*WHY :* wouldn't a smart and superwealthy company like google or Uber choose to make $$$ with *driverless Trucks* before wasting their company money in a less profitable sector such as UberX ?? That doesn't make any sense to me.


----------



## No-tippers-suck (Oct 20, 2014)

Neighbourly said:


> I would like to see the driverless car find the passenger drunk and mile deep into an EDM festival with every through street within three blocks closed, requiring a rolling pickup on a 6 lane road. They probably wouldn't accidentally go wrong way on a one way street downtown to get the girls to the doorstep of the bar either, come to think of it. The things I do for minimum wage. Good times in the desert!


*You got the point !

also if they would do what my GPS sometimes tells me to:
if a pax requested a pickup from inside an apartment complex where the Pin is located in the middle of a block.. then the driverless car would possibly circle around the block for hours not knowing what to do with the situation.
Also Driverless cars can not make smart decisions where to park themselves.*

I am not scared of* driverless cars* as well, since they *will never be allowed to drive on public streets* full of stupid humans that make mistakes and cause accidents.
Only a human can make some kind of decisions, that's why we still have pilots, racecar- and truckdrivers because situations sometimes change and need human interaction.

However Technology has gone a long way I will admit.


----------



## DriversOfTheWorldUnite (Nov 11, 2014)

When you take into account all the crazy stuff that happens on roads, Driverless cars literally need to be a highly intelligent, almost sentient A.I. system. Will it happen? Sure. But it's going to be a long, long way off.


----------



## Sydney Uber (Apr 15, 2014)

Neighbourly said:


> I would like to see the driverless car find the passenger drunk and mile deep into an EDM festival with every through street within three blocks closed, requiring a rolling pickup on a 6 lane road. They probably wouldn't accidentally go wrong way on a one way street downtown to get the girls to the doorstep of the bar either, come to think of it. The things I do for minimum wage. Good times in the desert!


Driverless cars won't be for everyone. People booking them will know what they can and can't do. So they'll be more considerate of a driverless car's limitations than a driven Uber car.

It turns up at the stated pick up location, waits 5 minutes if tge correct person doesn't get to the car in 5 minutes they will be billed.

I'd imagine that there would be some sort of facial recognition, or fingerprint, retinal scan or pin code, credit card swipe, or mobile phone proximity/bluetooth technology to verify who was getting in the driverless vehicle.

You wouldn't get away with "trashing" the car.


----------



## DriversOfTheWorldUnite (Nov 11, 2014)

Sydney Uber said:


> Driverless cars won't be for everyone. People booking them will know what they can and can't do. So they'll be more considerate of a driverless car's limitations than a driven Uber car.


Relying on people's intelligence and consideration. Great plan. Have you been driving for Uber long?


----------



## Sydney Uber (Apr 15, 2014)

DRIVERSOFTHEWORLDUNITE said:


> Relying on people's intelligence and consideration. Great plan. Have you been driving for Uber long?


Uber just over a year, cabs 9yrs, private hire cars 19 years.

You may have missed my point. Riders will get hit in their hip pocket if they stuff up the pick up. It wont be the driver's fault because there is none! A rider gives a address, robot car goes there simple.

People know where to line up for a burger, to get a cheap quick burger there are a few procedures that you have to adhere to before you get the burger.


----------



## DriversOfTheWorldUnite (Nov 11, 2014)

I have great respect for you sir, with such a long career in the driving industry. And we are in agreement for the most part--I just think I'm going to be an old man before we see it happen in earnest.


----------



## Sydney Uber (Apr 15, 2014)

DRIVERSOFTHEWORLDUNITE said:


> I have great respect for you sir, with such a long career in the driving industry. And we are in agreement for the most part--I just think I'm going to be an old man before we see it happen in earnest.


You will definitely see it in your lifetime!

Google are predicting 2018-2020. The Germans are saying 2024.


----------



## just drive (Oct 29, 2014)

The other option is to get a network of 12 year old on their PlayStation and x box. They will remotely drive the Uber car. It's legit because they don't do it full time, they don't need a driver license. And for payment they collect online trophies and awards.


----------



## DriversOfTheWorldUnite (Nov 11, 2014)

just drive said:


> The other option is to get a network of 12 year old on their PlayStation and x box. They will remotely drive the Uber car. It's legit because they don't do it full time, they don't need a driver license. And for payment they collect online trophies and awards.


I think you should apply to work at Uber corporate.


----------



## Oscar Levant (Aug 15, 2014)

UberSonic said:


> With driverless cars, you'd see less of the long pickup times, as the cars would be networked to spread out the availability more, a driverless car doesn't care how many rides it gets in a night, so can be stationed in less used areas for that. So you could get away with $.60 per mile effectively. When you consider that IRS considers driving expenses at $.56 per mile, they'd do quite well. Make deals with gas stations to provide a charging dock for a car, perhaps? And with parking garages for the more populated areas. Certainly doable, but rider adoption of the concept would take longer than the implementation.


That's 56 cents for every mile. Paid miles are never 100%. With UberX, it's 50% less or more depending on whether you work the burbs or center city. 
If paid miles are 50%, then each paid mile is double that 56 cents in cost per paid mile.


----------



## Einstein (Oct 10, 2015)

It's not a question of technology. It's about execution and practicality. To deploy these in large numbers requires a very robust network design and low cost vehicles. They're probably still a few years away.
The government will be heavily involved - particularly in dense urban areas. That means long delays while manufacturers and prospective operators wade through endless regulatory hurdles. It will take years to sort out.
Sure, they'll do trials in several big cities, and get tons of press. But anybody that's driven Uber pax for more than a week knows that half the rides have pickup issues, and one out of three pax requires a lot of attention and/or supervision.
Humans are just better suited than machines to manage all the details. I drive around drunk college kids every weekend. They would trash these vehicles. Who would want to ride in them?


----------



## volksie (Apr 8, 2015)

Uber is burning through GOOD drivers at a pace that will create a serious void in the business model long before driverless is available. P/T drivers are GETTING OVER IT and people like me will finally have a job and NO TIME TO DRIVE OR RIDE.


----------



## IceRail (Oct 16, 2015)

Voted no because I don't think there's any app/program/computer/robo-car as dumb as me.


----------

