Hailing a taxi in some parts of America comes with a growing chance that when the car arrives, no one will be behind the wheel.
Why it matters: Once the stuff of science fiction, robotaxis are now regularly plying the streets of Atlanta, Austin, Los Angeles, Phoenix and San Francisco, and will be coming soon to at least a dozen more cities.
The big picture: A flurry of expansion announcements, mostly from Waymo, the industry’s 800-pound gorilla, would lead you to believe robotaxis are everywhere.
Blakut on
idk when the robots formed their own axis and at this point I’m too afraid to ask
EscapeFacebook on
When I was a kid I was told vehicular manslaughter was one of the worst crimes you commit and now companies get to do it as a business cost.
TheHipsterBandit on
The autos are coming. Watch “humans need not apply” for some existential dread for the future.
housecow on
Self driving cars is probably the only place I want to see AI succeed. The quality of life improvement would be insane. Traffic, car accidents, DUIs, etc. would be decreased to almost negligible levels.
pitnat06 on
I’ve used Waymo in 3 different cities. It’s been fantastic every time and if you can try it, I definitely recommend you do.
cyb0lt on
I had to order a Waymo while in San Francisco earlier this year. It was a fantastic experience.
I live in Atlanta, and they had people driving them throughout town to map routes and the like. They’re now live, but just in the city and not on the highways.
IronBoomer on
“You’re in a Johnny Cab!”
“I mean, what am I doing here!”
“I’m sorry will you repeat the question?”
“How did I get in this taxi?”
“The door opened, you got in!”
Troubador222 on
If I order a ride and one of these show up, I’m canceling the ride.
thatguy425 on
I just took a trip to Austin, I was shocked at how many driverless cars there were downtown. I had not seen those yet.
torgobigknees on
I’m all for it. Hopefully all over the country in the next few years
Soctial on
The Uber drivers will need to learn how to code if they want to stay competitive
IWillBeThereForYou on
Wonder how the deal between Uber and r/avride will affect the AV landscape
AxlLight on
I know some people see this as negative news, but for me this is excellent news – Not even just because of the taxis part (which is also great because I’m tired of drivers skipping my ride because it’s not “worth their time” and I spend half an hour waiting for a cab, or having the driver blast their music and you needing to be the asshole telling them to turn it down, or any of the other million asinine things you get with drivers), but because it is one more step towards removing human drivers off the road.
I don’t think people realize how big of a life improvement it’ll be for all of us once we give all driving aspects to robots and professional drivers.
Ownership of cars is a ridiculous concept we need to move on from asap. We’ve basically given cars half (if not more) of the space around us – Parking lots, street parking, car lanes, insane prices we pay, upkeep, noise pollution, time spent in traffic because drivers are idiots, etc.
I really hope we can move towards a less car centric environment like most European cities – I know it’s still far away from us, but like I said, Robotaxis are a nice step towards it.
baby_budda on
If they can make taking a robo taxis as cheap as taking the bus I could ditch the car and save on gas, insurance and upkeep. But seeing how Uber operates, I doubt that will happen.
ExponentialFuturism on
At some point access to autonomous ridehail will be cheaper than actual car ownership. That’s when the tide flips
16 Comments
From the article
Hailing a taxi in some parts of America comes with a growing chance that when the car arrives, no one will be behind the wheel.
Why it matters: Once the stuff of science fiction, robotaxis are now regularly plying the streets of Atlanta, Austin, Los Angeles, Phoenix and San Francisco, and will be coming soon to at least a dozen more cities.
The big picture: A flurry of expansion announcements, mostly from Waymo, the industry’s 800-pound gorilla, would lead you to believe robotaxis are everywhere.
idk when the robots formed their own axis and at this point I’m too afraid to ask
When I was a kid I was told vehicular manslaughter was one of the worst crimes you commit and now companies get to do it as a business cost.
The autos are coming. Watch “humans need not apply” for some existential dread for the future.
Self driving cars is probably the only place I want to see AI succeed. The quality of life improvement would be insane. Traffic, car accidents, DUIs, etc. would be decreased to almost negligible levels.
I’ve used Waymo in 3 different cities. It’s been fantastic every time and if you can try it, I definitely recommend you do.
I had to order a Waymo while in San Francisco earlier this year. It was a fantastic experience.
I live in Atlanta, and they had people driving them throughout town to map routes and the like. They’re now live, but just in the city and not on the highways.
“You’re in a Johnny Cab!”
“I mean, what am I doing here!”
“I’m sorry will you repeat the question?”
“How did I get in this taxi?”
“The door opened, you got in!”
If I order a ride and one of these show up, I’m canceling the ride.
I just took a trip to Austin, I was shocked at how many driverless cars there were downtown. I had not seen those yet.
I’m all for it. Hopefully all over the country in the next few years
The Uber drivers will need to learn how to code if they want to stay competitive
Wonder how the deal between Uber and r/avride will affect the AV landscape
I know some people see this as negative news, but for me this is excellent news – Not even just because of the taxis part (which is also great because I’m tired of drivers skipping my ride because it’s not “worth their time” and I spend half an hour waiting for a cab, or having the driver blast their music and you needing to be the asshole telling them to turn it down, or any of the other million asinine things you get with drivers), but because it is one more step towards removing human drivers off the road.
I don’t think people realize how big of a life improvement it’ll be for all of us once we give all driving aspects to robots and professional drivers.
Ownership of cars is a ridiculous concept we need to move on from asap. We’ve basically given cars half (if not more) of the space around us – Parking lots, street parking, car lanes, insane prices we pay, upkeep, noise pollution, time spent in traffic because drivers are idiots, etc.
I really hope we can move towards a less car centric environment like most European cities – I know it’s still far away from us, but like I said, Robotaxis are a nice step towards it.
If they can make taking a robo taxis as cheap as taking the bus I could ditch the car and save on gas, insurance and upkeep. But seeing how Uber operates, I doubt that will happen.
At some point access to autonomous ridehail will be cheaper than actual car ownership. That’s when the tide flips