Driverless Waymo vs LA Rush Hour! | Waymo Ride Along #2

I hope you enjoyed my second commentary style drive! As always, do let me know if you have any ways I can improve these videos in the comments.
Do not distribute or reupload this video without prior written permission from myself. Transformative use of this content under fair use copyright law is of course allowed, and encouraged!

[@JJRicks]

Absolutely brilliant! Love the narration Keep it up!

[@charliedoyle7824]

I'm not sure why, but PUDO (pick-ups and drop-offs) is one of the hardest challenges for a robotaxi. Waymo still has lots of room for improvement.

[@AutonomyCentral]

Agreed! It's especially difficult in the areas in the video as it's just so busy there.

[@charliedoyle7824]

@@AutonomyCentral Do you try to take rides that will challenge Waymo and be interesting on your channel, or are you just getting rides that you need?

[@AutonomyCentral]

@@charliedoyle7824 It's usually a bit of a mix of both! I did want to visit the bakery that was my last dropoff, but the rest of the stops were for the video. On a day where I'm not filming, I use Waymo for running errands etc.

[@realDonaIdTruck]

And empty parking lots full of nothing but robotaxis😅

[@AutonomyCentral]

@@realDonaIdTruck They need somewhere to go between peak times, or wait for charging to become available!

[@Kryssthealien]

Everyone: That's amazing. Taxi drivers: "Change please!"

[@RecologySpencer]

Your relaxing narration during the video made this a fun watch for a video I randomly stumbled on. Having lived in San Francisco before I'd seen these Waymo cars around plenty, being tested without riders. Since I've left California they've now started hosting riders, which seems to be working well - despite the initial weary feeling of a driverless car this shows perfectly how advanced the technology is and smooth travel overall.

[@AutonomyCentral]

Thank you for your feedback and for watching!!

[@itzblockytvnetwork3549]

2:40 don’t blame that car one bit. In extreme traffic situations like that are always forgiven by me because lord knows how long they have or could have waited

[@AutonomyCentral]

Very true!

[@fredfred2363]

Great narration. Definitely helps point out things we'd have missed. Good video 👍🏻🇬🇧

[@AutonomyCentral]

Thank you so much!!

[@JJRicks]

Totally had that pickup situation before; fun fact, you can try to make it move again by changing the pickup spot in the app after it already stops

[@AutonomyCentral]

Normally I would, however I was actually visiting the business immediately to the right so was easier to just get out. Thank you for the continued support!

[@JJRicks]

​@@AutonomyCentralAh, I mean the pickup at the very beginning too ;D

[@JJRicks]

​@@AutonomyCentralDefinitely makes sense

[@AutonomyCentral]

@@JJRicks That's a good point actually, forgot at that moment.

[@Jacobbarber34632]

The driverless car took over talking like a boss

[@martincday007]

It would be interesting to know if the pickup place was selected where if the passenger took their time getting in, the Waymo would not have blocked the lane for other vehicles. Did it identify the road as a designated pickup area (which I assume it was) or just a narrow road? Looking on street view, the bus lane is 7am - 7pm Monday to Friday so it shouldn't have used it. Giving it a B+ is about right but maybe harsh in some respects as it really did perform better than a lot of human drivers. In the UK, and depending where you are, a good 50% of drivers are courteous to one another and even though a vehicle will have the right of way it will often allow vehicles waiting, to go in front. Waymo doesn't seem to be intentionally courteous but fairly sanguine about vehicles pushing in. In the UK, unofficially drivers will almost always flash their lights to indicate that they are giving way, however, in Italy the opposite is true, where the flashing of lights indicates that "I am coming through".

[@AutonomyCentral]

Thank you for taking the time to write such an insightful comment! Waymo doesn't really distinguish between designated pickup areas and just the side of the road, they all come up as possible locations for the car to stop. That's a good point about it not wanting to block the road though, I didn't think about that! You're allowed to go into the bus lane at designated points (this is intended for a right turn) but I'm not sure if you're allowed to enter if you're not turning, hence why I didn't call it out as straight up illegal in the video. If anyone knows for sure if this is the case, please let me know and I'll add a correction! Totally agree with your opinion on the rating, the driving was really solid and nice and safe. Mainly just took points off for that final dropoff, and not following my pickup instructions, along with that weirdness in the bus lane. I did throw it into some of the hardest situations I could find, so I expected a few hiccups. On a normal day, I would give Waymo an A+ on nearly every ride. I'm also from the UK, and have experienced this too! When moving here, it surprised me how little courtesy there is on the roads. Waymo, in my opinion, would come across quite courteous compared to 99% of LA drivers. I think the way Waymo drives is more of a product of its environment rather than anything else. A lot of times in LA, if you don't push your way through, you don't get anywhere! Appreciate you watching and adding your commentary, hope to see you again in the next one! :)

[@MCSA210]

Welcome to the future

[@realDonaIdTruck]

Have you seen Tesla's Summon feature? They can't properly get into position for a pickup well at all

[@AutonomyCentral]

I've experienced this firsthand too! I'm curious to see how well the new improved version will handle it when it comes out.

[@isaacdies]

Nice video. Some weird behaviour but it does seem impressively confident. That final stop blocking a bike lane and half of another lane felt a bit uncomfortable. At 5:01 you can see the Subaru turn in front of the bloke in the green shirt who is understandably upset ;)

[@Izzy_Gtz]

It drives way batter than I do 😅

[@Nova-m8d]

One orange cone on the hood completely locks the car down?

[@AutonomyCentral]

Until removed, for sure. Would you drive your car with a cone on the hood?

[@Nova-m8d]

@@AutonomyCentral Why do you ask?

[@AutonomyCentral]

Curious to see what you think about the behaviour of the Waymo compared to how you would do it yourself!

[@paviewer]

How do you communicate with a Waymo, for example telling it that everyone is in or out and ready for the car's next autonomous action?

[@AutonomyCentral]

Mainly using the doors and probably seat sensors! If no one's in the car, the doors will be closed and no one will be in the seats.

[@cityzens634]

Who makes the cars?

[@AutonomyCentral]

The Waymo car is a Jaguar I-PACE modified with Waymo hardware.

[@OutdoorLifeKR]

Can you try this route with Waymo in LA downtown area? It starts from 4th St. and 101 freeway exit. It goes through west bound all the way crossing the LA river and it will become 3rd St to west. It goes through all those busy 3rd St. downtown and will go into that super narrow tunnel. Goes until Lucas Ave. make a right turn, and make right on Emerald Dr and also make right on 2nd St. to go to east. Make right on Figueroa St. and make right on 3rd. where real people always mess up because 2 right lanes are 2 different free entarance. You can check the route on google map street view to see how horrible those roads are. I regularly use that route and want to see how "AI"s can handle that.

[@AutonomyCentral]

This sounds like an awesome route, thanks for taking the time to explain it! I'll add it to the list, and I'll see if I can get it to take your specific route by adding and removing stops. I might have to start a little further than the freeway exit (probably just after the LA river crossing) as that's right on the edge of the service area. If you want to try it yourself, I do have a code I can give you to skip the waitlist. Thank you again!

[@sunahamanagai9039]

So is Waymo cheaper than Uber and Lyft? They never mention that.

[@AutonomyCentral]

Sometimes! It's always cheaper than an Uber Black, which with the type of car is what I would compare it to. A lot of the time, even if it's a little more, once you factor in the tip it works out cheaper.

[@andoreanesnomeo1706]

It drives better than most people.

[@AutonomyCentral]

That we can definitely agree on!

[@blocktech1911]

good,hope for more busy road vedio ,thanks a lot

[@AutonomyCentral]

Thanks for watching!

[@dylanryall]

As a manual wheelchair user, I could probably get myself and my chair into the back of this car. If it was parked on a sufficiently level surface. The surface could slope but couldn’t have a full curb too close to the car. For me to actually use this as a taxi I’d need it to be able to find a sufficiently level place for me to get out or a way to tell the car it needs to park differently for me to get out, or in. A better system for the passenger to direct the car to a more convenient or appropriate spot would be useful. Both for someone with mobility issues and in the pickup situation at the beginning of this video.

[@AutonomyCentral]

Waymo does actually have a toggle you can turn on in the app if you would prefer a WAV! I believe these are driven manually, but I'm sure they have plans to make them autonomous. The new Zeeker vehicle they're developing is kind of a minivan, maybe a few of these would be adapted to be wheelchair accessible. You should definitely let Waymo know how they can improve if you plan to use the service, I've heard they're pretty good with accessibility concerns!

[@somestuffithoughtyoumightl6985]

B+ perhaps compared to perfect, but better than most Uber/Lyft I take. PUDO on par with most taxi.

[@crazyyoutuberguy]

I sink my car is thinking!!

[@AutonomyCentral]

🚗🧠

[@idkidkdidid]

why still no in new york

[@AutonomyCentral]

I don't think the city has given them permits to operate yet! Only testing right now.

[@Pbl6oLove]

great substitute for people , future for machines

[@AutonomyCentral]

We certainly are getting there!

[@Nala_1230]

I don't like where it pulls over it's just a bit careless hehe

[@AutonomyCentral]

It does seem to pull over wherever it likes! On the flip side though, I've had Uber drivers do the same thing!

[@pantera29palms]

It’s safe to say that people are cutting these cars off intentionally.

[@AutonomyCentral]

Unfortunately that's very true!

[@mark99k]

Umm, in what universe is this LA "rush hour" traffic? Most vehicles are actually moving.

[@AutonomyCentral]

I tried to get as close to 5pm as possible! Most of the traffic was on the freeway (where Waymo doesn't operate), however there was quite a bit downtown as you can see in numerous parts of the video. I did speed up the video in the parts that were boring (a few cases of being sat in traffic).

[@M_747]

F that B+, I give it a A+++. It drives a lot more better and smarter than most humans. 😂

[@AutonomyCentral]

I agree the driving was phenomenal! The points taken off were for the pick ups and drop offs mainly.

[@bluetoad2668]

They have remote drivers.

[@AutonomyCentral]

Take a look at my very first video! It goes over how that works, and how you'll know if it happens.

[@motherslove686]

Better driving than most young drivers of today 😊

[@guyinva20005]

WE are not there yet.

[@AutonomyCentral]

How so? How do you think Waymo could improve?

[@Mateo-hr4to]

@@AutonomyCentral Waymo will never work on a big city with pedestrians and congestion

[@xReeQz]

@@Mateo-hr4to what kind of city is LA then?

[@AutonomyCentral]

​@@Mateo-hr4toDid you watch the video?

[@Mateo-hr4to]

@@AutonomyCentral try NYC

[@fasmotion]

Can you do a Tesla FSD v12.5 vs Driverless Waymo video please?

[@AutonomyCentral]

That would be awesome! Unfortunately I have hardware 3, so I haven't got the 12.5 update yet. I'll definitely consider it once I do though!

[@JoeOvercoat]

2:35 Drivers should wait and let people onto the road. It’s isn’t difficult. Meanwhile, it’s obvious that Waymo routinely violate the rules of the road.

[@AutonomyCentral]

You've clearly never driven in LA!

[@TechStuff365]

Humans redundant.

[@AutonomyCentral]

Not quite yet, but we're getting there!

[@TechStuff365]

@@AutonomyCentral flocks of cars driving themselves

[@Mateo-hr4to]

Waymo absolutely sucks

[@AutonomyCentral]

How do you think they could improve?

[@Mateo-hr4to]

@@AutonomyCentral by partnering with a company that builds tunnels or self-driving vehicles only roads and getting a permit to be able to transport passengers through there.

[@AutonomyCentral]

@@Mateo-hr4to That's a cool concept! Do such tunnels exist?

[@wrinkleneckbass]

How would it handle an intersection with broken lights and a police officer directing traffic?

[@AutonomyCentral]

I would assume exactly as in my other video detailing that exact situation! The light would be largely irrelevant if a police officer is directing the traffic.

[@syproful]

Most likely internally a manual takeover flag gets triggered in that case. I would be really surprised if it could handle the gestures. Obviously Tesla can’t do it, for sure. Which is really dangerous as there is no support to take over the wheel for a bit. Hence the lvl2 tag.

[@AutonomyCentral]

Waymo can actually handle the gestures!

[@xReeQz]

@@syproful Tesla can't even handle construction and road cones, let alone gestures xD