# Waymo One, the first commercial robotaxi service, is now picking up passengers in Arizona



## Frank (from Atlanta) (Dec 4, 2018)

Source: LA times

Robot cars are now officially a real business. Waymo on Wednesday launched a commercial robot ride-hailing service in Arizona called Waymo One.

Like Uber or Lyft, customers will summon a ride with a smartphone app. But in this case, the car will be driving itself.

"This is a game changer. It's historical in nature," said Grayson Brulte, who heads driverless car consulting firm Brulte & Co.

Only "a few hundred customers" will have access to the app and participate in the early stages, according to Waymo, which is an arm of Google parent Alphabet Inc. Although the cars will drive themselves, a Waymo engineer will sit behind the wheel in case anything goes wrong. Waymo did not say when the cars will start arriving without a human minder or when the program will be expanded.

Waymo's cars, Chrysler Pacifica minivans bristling with autonomous driving technology, are available in several eastern and southeastern Phoenix suburbs, including Chandler, Tempe, Mesa and Gilbert. The fares are similar to those charged by Uber and Lyft.









Waymo One

Waymo has ferried Phoenix-area passengers in robot cars since April 2017 in what the company calls its Early Rider program. Unlike Early Rider - which Waymo will continue - Waymo One customers won't be required to sign nondisclosure agreements and won't be expected to continually provide feedback about their experience.

Waymo One represents the beginnings of a business that could be worth a lot of money. How much, no one yet knows: Wall Street estimates of Waymo's market value, should it be spun off, range from $50 billion to $175 billion.

Waymo began driverless-car development in 2009. Although dozens of companies, from small start-ups to major motor vehicle manufacturers, are developing driverless systems, Waymo is considered the emerging industry's leader - in large part because of Google's expertise in mapping and machine learning combined with the rich ample investment dollars churned out by Google's search advertising money machine.

There appears to be far more demand for the service than Waymo is able or willing to provide at present. The Early Rider program attracted 20,000 applicants, the company said, but only about 400 were chosen.

A big reason for the slo-mo nature of commercial rollout, according to Waymo, is safety.

"Self-driving technology is new to many, so we're proceeding carefully with the comfort and convenience of our riders in mind," Waymo Chief Executive John Krafcik said in a statement.

The emerging driverless car industry suffered a blow in March when an Uber robot car hit and killed a pedestrian in Arizona. The experimental vehicle, with an apparently inattentive Uber employee behind the wheel, plowed into a woman walking a bicycle across a highway at night. Although the pedestrian wasn't in a crosswalk, neither the human driver nor the driverless system applied the brakes until after the woman was hit.

Deaths involving Tesla's Autopilot system have also drawn headlines, although Autopilot is not intended to be used as an autonomous system.

Practically every company developing driverless cars uses a combination of radar, optical, ultrasound and lidar sensors - except Tesla, which has said expensive lidar, which uses laser light to detect objects, will not be necessary for the driverless cars it plans to deploy.

Even if robot cars prove safer than human drivers - one of the intended aims - bad publicity from freak accidents or manufacturer missteps could slow the technology's acceptance by the general public and political representatives.

The Phoenix area was chosen deliberately for its friendliness to driverless cars - and not just because of the support of Arizona's governor and local officials. (Regulations on driverless cars are less stringent in Arizona than in California.)

The flat, snow-free desert terrain, the well-kept and well-marked roads, the scarcity of trees to block street signs, and sun-blasted sidewalks on which few pedestrians tread all lend themselves to early robot car deployment.

Other companies are planning to take on more challenging environments. GM-Cruise announced plans to offer a commercial robotaxi service on the streets of San Francisco by the end of this year, but according to Reuters technical problems have delayed the rollout.


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## LoveBC (May 16, 2017)

So we’re gonna take $80,000 minivans that have a reputation for being utter pieces of crap. Add about $100k of robotech.

Then charge fuber rates...... 


Doot doot doot...


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## Frank (from Atlanta) (Dec 4, 2018)

I think the fact that they can operate nearly 24 hours per day can help with the costs.

Most of the cost is an initial capital outlay, so running 24/7 makes the numbers work better.

The part which wears out from additional miles (the van) costs about 40k but additional miles wont degrade the sensors and computers as much


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## LoveBC (May 16, 2017)

Frank (from Atlanta) said:


> I think the fact that they can operate nearly 24 hours per day can help with the costs.
> 
> Most of the cost is an initial capital outlay, so running 24/7 makes the numbers work better.
> 
> The part which wears out from additional miles (the van) costs about 40k but additional miles wont degrade the sensors and computers as much


Pacifica Hybrid or conventional?


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## Frank (from Atlanta) (Dec 4, 2018)

2019 Crysler Pacifica Hybrid has a base MSRP of $39,995


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## LoveBC (May 16, 2017)

Frank (from Atlanta) said:


> 2019 Crysler Pacifica Hybrid has a base MSRP of $39,995


Still a stupid idea at $1/mile


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## Shrimp GumboC (Nov 13, 2018)

Frank (from Atlanta) said:


> 2019 Crysler Pacifica Hybrid has a base MSRP of $39,995


Waymo order 62 thousand of them so they're not even paying 40k. The sensor suit now only adds a few thousand dollars. The entire car, ready to go, is probably only 30k. At one dollar a mile Waymo is making a killing


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## goneubering (Aug 17, 2017)

LoveBC said:


> Still a stupid idea at $1/mile


And they're still paying an engineer to babysit these cars!!


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## Shrimp GumboC (Nov 13, 2018)

goneubering said:


> And they're still paying an engineer to babysit these cars!!


The car is fine. They're paying an engineer to babysit the passengers.


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## Linux Geek (Jul 1, 2016)

Shrimp GumboC said:


> The car is fine. They're paying an engineer to babysit the passengers.


 Maybe you are joking, however, the only eligible passengers are the (I think 400) members of Waymo's early rider program. It seems to me that the most likely reason for the safety drivers is that the cars still are having problems.


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## uberdriverfornow (Jan 10, 2016)

The fact that they are still not open to the general public and that for some strange reason they gotta process "applications" tells you it's just another smokescreen.

Until we see video of the cars in action driving themselves we can be sure it's just more bs.


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## Shrimp GumboC (Nov 13, 2018)

uberdriverfornow said:


> The fact that they are still not open to the general public and that for some strange reason they gotta process "applications" tells you it's just another smokescreen.
> 
> Until we see video of the cars in action driving themselves we can be sure it's just more bs.


What it tells you is Waymo cares about their costumers. They have more demand than supply at the moment so they're limiting demand in order to be able to offer a pickup window of under three minutes. What percentage of Uber pax are not happy with the ride? Waymo's making sure all pax love the service because this will be a multi trillion dollar market segment.



Linux Geek said:


> Maybe you are joking, however, the only eligible passengers are the (I think 400) members of Waymo's early rider program. It seems to me that the most likely reason for the safety drivers is that the cars still are having problems.


They're testing the service with no drivers in the Bay Area for Google employees now. How long do you suppose it'll be before they're in Southern California?


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## tohunt4me (Nov 23, 2015)

Frank (from Atlanta) said:


> Source: LA times
> 
> Robot cars are now officially a real business. Waymo on Wednesday launched a commercial robot ride-hailing service in Arizona called Waymo One.
> 
> ...


" GRAYSON BRULTE WHO HEADS ROBO CAR PROMOTING FIRM CALLED BRULTE & CO. SAYS THIS IS SIGNIFICANT."

OK

A GNAT JUST FARTED.

MORE SIGNIFICANT !



Frank (from Atlanta) said:


> I think the fact that they can operate nearly 24 hours per day can help with the costs.
> 
> Most of the cost is an initial capital outlay, so running 24/7 makes the numbers work better.
> 
> The part which wears out from additional miles (the van) costs about 40k but additional miles wont degrade the sensors and computers as much


The computers will need CONSTANT COSTLY UPKEEP !


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## Linux Geek (Jul 1, 2016)

Shrimp GumboC said:


> How long do you suppose it'll be before they're in Southern California?


I haven't read any news about Waymo testing in SoCal.

The demand for Waymo One service remains to be seen. Only 400 people are eligible to use the service. On any given day how many of these 400 people are going to choose to pay for a ride? Maybe 10? 5? I really don't know. The cars can travel only in Phoenix suburbs from what I've read.


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## uberdriverfornow (Jan 10, 2016)

Shrimp GumboC said:


> What it tells you is Waymo cares about their costumers. They have more demand than supply at the moment so they're limiting demand in order to be able to offer a pickup window of under three minutes. What percentage of Uber pax are not happy with the ride? Waymo's making sure all pax love the service because this will be a multi trillion dollar market segment.
> 
> They're testing the service with no drivers in the Bay Area for Google employees now. How long do you suppose it'll be before they're in Southern California?


Where are the videos ? Let's see it. I have never seen a Waymo vehicle driving itself in Mountain View. Period. The human always has their hands on the steering wheel. There are no exceptions. If these things worked there would be video and not be unicorns that you hear about but never see with your own eyes.


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## Fozzie (Aug 11, 2018)

Frank (from Atlanta) said:


> I think the fact that they can operate nearly 24 hours per day can help with the costs.
> 
> Most of the cost is an initial capital outlay, so running 24/7 makes the numbers work better.
> 
> The part which wears out from additional miles (the van) costs about 40k but additional miles wont degrade the sensors and computers as much


If a driver who drives 8 hrs a day loses their ass driving for Uber. how much better will things get when you do it 24/7? All you'll do is drive yourself into the poorhouse 3x faster, and with infinitely higher operating costs.


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## Shrimp GumboC (Nov 13, 2018)

uberdriverfornow said:


> Where are the videos ? Let's see it. I have never seen a Waymo vehicle driving itself in Mountain View. Period. The human always has their hands on the steering wheel. There are no exceptions. If these things worked there would be video and not be unicorns that you hear about but never see with your own eyes.


NDA's are removed for Waymo One customers. You'll have all the videos you can eat and you'll be able to go frame by frame pointing out how horrible it is. Good times.



Fozzie said:


> If a driver who drives 8 hrs a day loses their ass driving for Uber. how much better will things get when you do it 24/7? All you'll do is drive yourself into the poorhouse 3x faster, and with infinitely higher operating costs.


Waymo charges $7.32 and Uber $9.38 for the same trip. Waymo makes a killing at $7.32, Uber loses money at $9.38. How do you suppose this is going to end?

"Fares are based on time and distance, and customers can expect fares to be roughly on par with what you'd pay for an Uber or Lyft trip-perhaps even a bit lower. The above Waymo-provided screenshot shows a customer booking this trip, which is 4.6 miles long and takes about 12 minutes. Waymo charges $7.32 for the trip. I punched the same route into Lyft and Uber aps on Tuesday afternoon and got quotes of $8.29 and $9.38, respectively."

https://arstechnica.com/cars/2018/1...breaking-self-driving-taxi-service-explained/


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## AceManShow (Sep 24, 2015)

Reuters article:

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...in-arizona-for-paying-customers-idUSKBN1O41M2



uberdriverfornow said:


> The fact that they are still not open to the general public and that for some strange reason they gotta process "applications" tells you it's just another smokescreen.
> 
> Until we see video of the cars in action driving themselves we can be sure it's just more bs.


I'm in Mountain View California, I see them ALL THE TIME DRIVING THEMSELVES..

->> THIS IS FOR REAL << -


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## uberdriverfornow (Jan 10, 2016)

AceManShow said:


> Reuters article:
> 
> https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...in-arizona-for-paying-customers-idUSKBN1O41M2
> 
> ...


what you see are the vehicles, thats not the same as the vehicles having been driving themselves



AceManShow said:


> Reuters article:
> 
> https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...in-arizona-for-paying-customers-idUSKBN1O41M2
> 
> ...


its the same bs they were already pulling with the ridiculous "early rider program" of which nobody has ever heard from or seen video of

try reading the article above again



> Only "a few hundred customers" will have access to the app and participate in the early stages, according to Waymo,


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## mbd (Aug 27, 2018)

Google has deep pockets . I think eventually they might just sell the technology for a subscription fee
Google has 1000 times more data than U/l. It can get all LA fitness, All Walmart , and few 100 more companies to join in
Great news is that hipster idiot with laptop will use this ... they don't tip, so good riddance to the 25 and younger crowd . 
I had a hipster idiot from Manhattan yesterday , asked the idiot how much is the gasoline price in Manhattan... and the 25-26 year old idiot replies .. I don't drive so I don't know.


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