Riding a Waymo self-driving taxi

Today, Waymo rolls out a driverless taxi service called Waymo One in Arizona. The company has been operating self-driving cars, occasionally without safety drivers behind the wheel, for about a year and half now. The goal is to use all the data they have collected to make Waymo's autonomous vehicles the safest drivers on the road. Andrew Hawkins went down to Chandler, Arizona for a test ride.
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[@TheVerge]

Do you trust self-driving cars?

[@Jellykrop]

The Verge Yes I do.

[@pumpuppthevolume]

The Verge ......do u trust human drivers ....I trust them as long as they r doing the job

[@vickyabramowitz4919]

I trust self driving cars. They can never be impaired by alcohol, drugs or texting.

[@mohammedismailbinibrahim1714]

People's trust in computers when computers came. Definitely people trust when self driving cars are on.

[@JohnnyLai]

I work for Cruise before. I see the improvements over time. I would one day I could ride on it.

[@wadhahnasserwn]

This is waymo than I expected

[@a-note76]

Wadhah Alriyami clever lol

[@ArifSelect1]

get out

[@scikick]

Wadhah are you talking about?

[@essentialoilsme]

Wadhah Alriyami I see what you did there

[@maximrukinov3101]

Ba dum tss

[@derekonlinenow777]

Dude I'd say one thing If it works in India then it will work everywhere else perfectly

[@darksunrise957]

If they put these in India, people will be riding on the roof, and try to stack 2 meters of rice bags on top.

[@felixnkrumah3560]

@@darksunrise957 lmaoo

[@christopherrichardson3675]

@@darksunrise957 It already happens in San Francisco..... I used to work for Cruise Automation and homeless people would always try and hitch a ride.

[@shubhampaul7845]

@thomas anderson wow, really insightful.

[@limegpt]

No, it wouldn’t work on the moon or on the ocean

[@Sacchidanand]

Human have very poor record with driving. Autonomous cars will reduce many accidents.

[@raptorfast538]

The opposite

[@colslowaboalrish7284]

How many accidents have you had riding a taxi recently?

[@MichaelGGarry]

@@colslowaboalrish7284 the only accident I have ever been in in my 43 years was in a taxi......

[@Shmeeters]

@@raptorfast538 you do know that all the accidents involved with Google's automatic cars was caused by human drivers. Humans are terrible drivers and automatic cars will have way less accidents

[@briangodfrey5079]

@@infamouscoffee4934 They are still being developed. It's not about their record, it's about how fast they can learn to do better. I think they will outperform the best human drivers before too long in all but the most bizarre circumstances.

[@gold7606]

Nothing like a taxi service that won’t judge you based on the colour of your skin , that won’t instigate small talk when all you want is silence....

[@infamouscoffee4934]

It could have a color sensor Hopefully not though

[@farkhodkhikmatov4738]

Hal K what?

[@GudieveNing]

aniebiot udofia actually, I want small talk, I am a human not a cold cybernetic google employee.

[@dajam9035]

@@infamouscoffee4934 Lol "color sensor". Car: "Oh he's too dark, nope" 😂

[@dajam9035]

@@GudieveNing Lmao 😆

[@DarcersTech]

People thinking that they are better drivers than a supercomputer are a bit naive and will be proven wrong in a couple of years time.

[@mob_abominator1868]

Super Computer ?🤔

[@Anujsingh-yu1wg]

@DerpyDoge ohh yeah!! they are ...dats how, they are gathering data.

[@abcdxx1059]

More than a few years

[@briangodfrey5079]

@@mob_abominator1868 Supercomputer is term from the '80s and by those standards you have one in your phone. :)

[@mob_abominator1868]

@@briangodfrey5079 oh 🤯😱

[@elijahorozco2960]

I want to get to the time where people are afraid to see a person behind a wheel like “omg are you driving? No that’s dangerous use the self driving option”

[@sirbughunter]

Although I also kinda wanna get to that time, I fear it more than welcome it. Just imagine when everyone is bound to use a self driving car, just, because he cannot drive the car anymore! No escape from anyone...

[@t-bone9239]

It will be sad

[@nake89]

@@t-bone9239 It will lead to fewer fatalities and therefore less sorrow. So no. The opposite of sadness.

[@IntensePeppers]

It eventually won't be an option

[@elijahorozco2960]

Jason Yang They will, technology evolves

[@THR33-LAWS-SAF3]

I see these Waymo vans everywhere in Mesa (suburb of Phoenix) and they are great. I’ve never had any issues driving next to them and they have my full support. I hope in the future it will reduce accidents from snowbirds.

[@andyjayhawkins]

Have you signed up to be an Early Rider?

[@THR33-LAWS-SAF3]

Andrew Hawkins no, but that does sound like something I would be interested in. What about you?

[@THR33-LAWS-SAF3]

D O T S I’m numb to the pain by now. I love basketball to play and watch so maybe when Robert Sarver sells the team, then they will be good again lol

[@THR33-LAWS-SAF3]

Kevin if only they could use the self driving cars to get around safely for them and everyone else on the road. My 90 year old grandma never took her test to get her drivers license because she was aware of her own inability to safely drive. My other 70 year old grandma has neuropathy and called me to her house so I could put rubber bands with sandpaper around sponges so she could feel the pedals. Let’s just say her car suddenly stopped working lol

[@THR33-LAWS-SAF3]

D O T S we have some good players with booker, ayton, and bridges. I’m still waiting to see what happens with josh Jackson but as a suns fan, I can’t get my hopes up too high with Robert sarver as our owner

[@4tCa4mzUPqRZZo]

I never understand why people never mention that driving cars are a colossal waste of human time, and SDC will free up that time to do anything one would want to do.

[@gdigenis]

That's great, I will be able to catch up on my staring out the window.

[@mukulsingh2540]

driving cars is fun for a small percentage of people , it's just a mode of transportation.

[@alfredm9051]

Yeah I love working out in my car. Or studying. Or getting dressed.

[@MrShashi02]

@CHANNEL BLACK each word

[@funkahontas]

@@alfredm9051 THINK ABOUT ALL THAT TIME !!!! YOU COULD READ 2 PAGES OF A BOOK ! OR, you could.... Mmm you could do...... THERE'S SO MUCH TIME WASTED !!

[@pranab091]

Self driving car is the future. They are coming.

[@FranciscoAreasGuimaraes]

And they have a plan! :P

[@bigdog44pc]

Resistance is futile... jobs will be eliminated. I seriously hope the software programmers one day will lose their jobs do to automation and starve.

[@t-bone9239]

No cars would be the future.

[@zjoozjoo]

No more need to own a car, no more need to park a car, no more waisting time in a car, way less cars needed but continuously riding... pod cars!

[@640A]

NO, it's NOT the Future! Heavy Rain, Snow or Mud and there you go your fancy '' self-driving'' car is useless!

[@pcathalifaud]

I wonder if we'll see uber/lyft drivers rioting around these cars, as it happened with taxi drivers today

[@RezwanNavide]

Uber will have it's own fleet of self driving car.

[@mukulsingh2540]

lol , uber is investing that's why drivers will go jobless

[@unknownprofile8909]

Or you could send your own car into work for Uber while you don't have to be there.

[@AbiNubli]

Driver is elevator operator of today. this job will exist no more

[@briangodfrey5079]

@@AbiNubli You must be as old as I am. Most people alive today probably don't remember elevator operators! Even in my lifetime they were mostly just in the really old buildings.

[@nikeshbsn158]

"Where's my self driving car" "Ahh here it is" 😂😂

[@ShortGiant1]

Yeah that's hilarious

[@andyjayhawkins]

@Jason Yang A car can be self-driving and still have someone behind the wheel.

[@zjoozjoo]

scrap the word "my"! Cars are the new public transport!

[@guildrich]

@@zjoozjoo Exactly! It's just another covert way to "nudge" people into the idea of communism.

[@tomruth9487]

@Jason Yang I think it's sort of a pipe dream. It's a lot of hype and marketing at this point in time. It will be decades before there is a true, safe, self driving car, if ever. Auto pilot has been around in planes for years. It's good if used by pilots that know how to use it. But you don't see the airlines in any hurry to remove pilots from planes. I don't think an auto pilot could ever land a plane in the Hudson river safely.

[@DrewLakebrink]

Self driving vehicles are always being tested in sunny, dry climates. I want to see a company testing in a typically rainy area or in the snow.

[@rogergeyer9851]

Drew Lakebrink : The difference between level 4 and level 5 is HUGE. Weather is ONE, highly variable, obstacle. Not that the Musk clown would admit that.

[@eeshwar25]

Stuck in traffic 34 hours a year? What? That's a problem? I get stuck in traffic that long every month, at the least.

[@andyjayhawkins]

Yikes that's bad

[@eeshwar25]

@@andyjayhawkins Yeah, Bangalore's a nightmare.

[@briangodfrey5079]

Here in San Diego a one hour commute is common and it can often be two hours when traffic is bad. Even just one hour each way, 20 days a week adds up to 40 hours a month. Oh, but the commute would probably be much quicker if every car on the road was self-driving, because there would be fewer accidents and better traffic flow...

[@eeshwar25]

Brian Godfrey Pretty much the same thing here, however, when it rains you just don’t even bother leaving your house/office because traffic gets even worse.

[@EpicJonC]

Try 160 hours Haha

[@hakeemadjei2035]

I like this new guy👍🏾

[@andyjayhawkins]

thank you!

[@makeitrainnaren]

do you live in arizona? @@andyjayhawkins

[@carson9903]

Is he new? I swear I've seen him before

[@andyjayhawkins]

@@makeitrainnaren Unfortunately I do not, but I really enjoyed my time there.

[@andyjayhawkins]

@@carson9903 I've been at The Verge for over three years.

[@Zizumia]

I see these cars all the time and I think they are so cool! Every time I see one roll down the street, I know that the technology is getting more and more advanced with each drive.

[@bryan.w.t]

Put waymo in Jakarta, it will never make a turn because Jakarta drivers are so bad

[@maxkho00]

Russia is worse, trust me. Though that's more of a case of them being crazy rather than bad.

[@franklee8032]

In Russia, you drive the autonomous cars

[@blakelewis8360]

setuju

[@esthercromwell3414]

Try egypt 😂😂 theres literally no space between cars 😂😂

[@kurtlowder3276]

i think we will start to see more buses and shuttles in 3rd world countries. smart cities will provide very cheap shared rides, in order to drastically reduce infrastructure costs. smart cities will partner with companies to provide incrediblely cheap shared rides. we are talking pennies per mile. these taxis are just first generation.

[@umair7881]

I expect these self driving cars to be significantly cheaper than taxis/ubers since the have no human employment as well as the car being electric.

[@umair7881]

@bottle2lip yes they do, but in the long run they will want to have it fully autonomous without a human being in the car. I guess you don't have a brain.

[@briangodfrey5079]

I think the sensors and comms and backup systems and all the other stuff behind it will probably make up a lot of what they save with the human drivers. At least until there are an awful lot of these on the road to distribute the costs among.

[@blackcat-mp7kh]

Nope Initial they have to make some Money which they are putting in devlopment

[@MrSarvy]

You expext but you will not get it! They will want to take as much profit as posible to pay the RND and make profit in bilions

[@danielmagner7932]

@Q T self driving cars will be built to last - unlike most consumer vehicles. Also they can be in use 24/7 365 so no need for surge pricing.

[@georgerascon1825]

recognising every street in the video., idk why it makes me happy when our little valley gets cool things like this

[@thedualbeaconoflightningdr2317]

Nothing is better than a human being with 25+ years of driving experience in good and bad weather.

[@BONESnCMA]

That Notch tho!

[@Ryukachoo]

reminder that we went from cars having trouble navigating boulders in a desert to a couple of Priuses timidly navigating corners in San Francisco to essentially a soft launch of a full self-driving stack, all in about 15 years. What's going to happen in the next 15 years?

[@cookie.lover007]

Brilliant! Bravo for the clever and very appropriate critique at the end.

[@CharanKonduri]

certainly impressed by the Waymo's progress

[@suharsh96]

I'm calling it. This will be the walking brothel of the future :D

[@Bling_The_Visual_Creator]

Phoenix looks kinda empty

[@andyjayhawkins]

It felt that way at times.

[@dzonikg]

YEs look like a Fallout 4 but with out destroyed buildings

[@danielmonheit]

If you live there, it is not.

[@TaiViinikka]

@Larry David That's Las Vegas, over in Nevada? It's not that close.

[@AbdullahQ1993]

Welcome to middle America. (I know it’s technically not in the middle. But Geopolitically it is)

[@mrargenisrohan]

I live in Mesa and work in Chandler Arizona, i can't wait to try this service!!

[@shawnm3757]

I'm a Waymo One rider, as well as a cyclist. I really enjoyed this video and the multiple perspectives shown.

[@briangodfrey5079]

Very few people have actually calculated their true cost per mile to drive their vehicle. Try it sometime, you might be surprised. Mine costs about 62.5 cents a mile, averaged over the life of the vehicle. I am 63 and in many hundreds of miles, the only accident I've ever been in was just the other day when the driver's foot slipped off of the brake pedal in the car behind me and I was rear-ended at very slow speed. (No harm done to my truck, $1000s to her car.) So I'm a good driver. But driving has become much faster, more aggressive, and just outright dangerous than it was even just 10 years ago and I'm at an age where my reactions are beginning to slow. So are many others. Do I trust these bot-cars? No. But I trust them much more already than I do the average driver and I expect that they will continue to get better. I look forward to the day when they are the only vehicles permitted on the public roads. If these rides are priced like a taxi, they'll never achieve much success, but if you were to offer me this service at 62.5 cents per mile or less, I would be foolish not to take it.

[@hewhoisknownastaco]

This is a super good point. Ultimately it will come down to cost vs benefit (including safety, travelling without needing to pay attention, an other non-monetary costs/benefits). When the benefits outweigh the costs, the platform will thrive.

[@faustin289]

You are such an egoist. You had your fun driving around and now that your vision is getting impared and your joint are hurting, then you want to get driving banned.

[@briangodfrey5079]

@@faustin289 An egoist because I look forward to a safer driving environment for everyone? If you think I enjoy driving you are funny. For me, driving is a means of hauling myself, my wife, and various "stuff" around. Not a means of excitement. If you are one of those people who gets his jollies by driving fast and crazy - endangering the lives of others who don't get to chose when you hurt or kill them - or who think that you are so special that you ought to be able to drive drunk or otherwise impaired, then perhaps you are the egoist.

[@SlobodanKovacevicDaddy]

YES i wold trust self-driving car, more than overworked taxi driver!

[@fewpeopleknowme]

Waymo has taken Speros to a new level

[@savvyrb]

I can't wait to take a ride in one of these!

[@Oscar-uk5sq]

I can't wait to have a self driving car! Get naps in btwn destinations!? Yes please

[@liamwinter4512]

Óscar everyone yearns to die in their sleep.

[@maxkho00]

Watch a football match while travelling between cities!!! Hell yes!!!

[@t-bone9239]

Trains, buses, subways??????

[@maxkho00]

@@t-bone9239 Nope. First there is usually not enough space, secondly the seats are very uncomfortable if available at all, thirdly you must always check what the next stop is, or wake up like 30 minutes in advance, if you don't wanna miss your destination, and lastly it's way too loud to sleep.

[@t-bone9239]

@@maxkho00 U obviously dont use public transport

[@sauravsubhash3840]

34 hrs a year? Lol rookie numbers!!

[@ionut.tarau.]

In Bucharest, Romania, they lose around 27 days per year in traffic.

[@YR2050]

Yeah math comes out to 5 mins a day in traffic, that's godsend!

[@fxbrianh]

Ha for real I spend at least an hour or more every single day

[@joshuahaymann1017]

great journalism, thank you.

[@micrsogle2280]

Any technology has a period of development, and the future of driverless cars is worth looking forward to.

[@afsdsasasf]

COME ON, WAYMO, SET UP IN SINGAPORE ALREADY. IT IS THE SMALLEST COUNTRY TO BE ABLE TO APPLY IT COUNTRY WIDE

[@junemarshall7621]

self-driving cars? SO I CANT GET A LICENCE ANYMORE

[@blakeharvard6472]

Hope the people in charge of these self driving cars can deliver on the various promises they made publicly , for the safety of the nation and all over the world this company could have their brand to be here hopefully for a long time. Like airplanes they need guidance from air control to land safely. Best of luck to you all for a safe and bright future of your company. Waymo is a pioneer for the future generations to come.

[@TCPUDPATM]

The fatality discussed happened when the human decided it was safe to casually stroll across a road (illegally). Also, the safety system was DISABLED on the vehicle. No human would have been able to stop given that scenario (video has been released).

[@kkkk-wg6je]

I want to see more trains. a larger network linking metropolitan areas together

[@19summers81]

Most likely won't happen, rails are too expensive to run and current rails are needed for freight and can't support passenger trains without majorly reducing shipping times.

[@ARepublicIfYouCanKeepIt]

In a second! (a *father* to two older millennials, by the way, but a very open-minded early adopter) The keys are affordable *access*, not ownership, and safety. The combination of AI and machine learning makes Waymo's "driver" traffic rule following and patient, as well as *way* more experienced than any human. (How many people have driven 10 million miles?) The numerous sensors on the vehicles, coupled with compute power also makes Waymo's "driver" much more aware of surroundings and situations than any human. Add in that Waymo's "driver" isn't distracted, tired, or otherwise compromised, and that's a future to eagerly anticipate.

[@abcdxx1059]

Unfortunately the 10 million miles driven by a self driving car doesn't equate to a human deep learning is highly inefficient and a new type of ml will take time for development like a decade so don't get your hopes high this tech has a long way to just to train a model to recognize 10 digits you need 50k+ images so 10 mill Miles won't be enough for the car to drive itself

[@briangodfrey5079]

@@abcdxx1059 Yes, but if one car learns a lesson, all the others learn it, too. The more cars are out there learning, the more experiences they will have and the faster the technology will progress. And they don't forget it or space out because they are tired or ignore it because they are narcissistic or drunk.

[@xjones2087]

And like every other computer, it'll be an interesting day when the system is hacked, times however many cars are our there. Our fancy computer systems and networks, run by the smartest techs have been hacked. It'll be scary when the computers hacked have occupants. I'm a computer pro, i think the technology is inevitable, but there will be casualties. philosophyofX com

[@TheCharleseye]

@@xjones2087 Truth. Add in the fact that with connected computing, the computer needs to _stay_ connected and you have all manner of potentially bad circumstances in the more mountainous parts of the Country (not even taking into account the rest of the world). But hey, when people don't have to learn to drive any more, that will surely free up more space in their heads for creating lolcats videos and Facebook memes.

[@sirbughunter]

@@xjones2087 What if they don't operate via internet, but rather via on-device AI? They could get updated models every time they drive back to the base.

[@gokuldas027]

I think waymo is the only heat source, that prevents self driving car winter❤️

[@MrAustham]

Heck yes! I live in Chandler, Arizona and drive with these things around be all the time. I have seen them avoid many unexpected obstacles and situations that I'm not sure a human driver would have even noticed, to be honest. I am highly impressed with these cars. I do have one complaint though, even when you stay back to let one come over when it has its blinker one, they don't come over. They are not nearly aggressive enough to drive in traffic efficiently.

[@slackstation]

As the technology is right now with all of the people working at Google, every driver on the road that's replaced with an automated one from Waymo makes ALL of us safer. People have a hard time grappling with that. Statisical thinking is tough for humans. A million people can die in Syria but, the world moves from the photo of one dead kid. Human brains think in relations to individuals not groups and that's a weakness when it comes to doing things that would benefit all of us. Caution at this stage is good, getting started slow is probably the best course forward but, at some point we're gonna have to start looking at the sheer number of people that die from car accidents every year as avoidable deaths. Not just that but, the number of people who would have taken an Uber home from the bar instead of drinking if it were cheaper. The number of people who feel safer taking a machine home drunk at 2AM instead of getting in a car with a stranger. Beyond this, the amount of benefit for everyone because everything that delivered or driven somewhere as a part of the production process just got cheaper. The benefit is almost innumerable.

[@sypen1]

Emmanuel well said

[@udishomer5852]

Agree completely, I would just add that are even more people who get seriously injured in car accidents, and many of them will remain disabled for life.

[@thomasjuniardi3559]

@Larry David statistically it killed more person than any human driver in the world...why they call it save ?

[@guildrich]

@Emmanuel *_"As the technology is right now with all of the people working at Google, every driver on the road that's replaced with an automated one from Waymo makes ALL of us safer. People have a hard time grappling with that."_* Yet another safety nut-job who's hellbent on protecting humanity from itself *_"at all costs"._* Seems to me that people like yourself have a hard time grappling with the fact that life ain't meant to be 100% "safe".

[@guildrich]

@@thomasjuniardi3559 *_"statistically it killed more person than any human driver in the world...why they call it save ?"_* Most people tend to forget that these automated cars have already killed like 3 people, and that's with only a few hundred of them being tested. Put a few _million_ of these "smartphones-on-wheels" out there, and we're probably talking roughly the same number of deaths (if not _more)_ as today. But hey, as long as we get to stay on "FakeBook", who cares?

[@TheJociman]

As a bad driver myself I'm the most excited about not having to run over anyone. Anymore.

[@apredator4gb]

I've been waiting for self driving cars since i turned 21. I can't wait to go out drinking and not worry about finding a DD.

[@harkaranvir]

"Autonomy will always have constraints." - John Krafcik Believe me, there is someone out there working to change that.

[@gomenaros]

Is tip mandatory?

[@xenoidaltu601]

Does anyone know the background building at 06:16?

[@maglonian9920]

Starbucks

[@bonaws]

Yes i think its really good idea! Keep up the good work! If i have change i want to try it !

[@DJKoren]

That’s so cool! I’d definitely take a ride.

[@fliceflo]

Elon Musk: Hold My Beer

[@amirdashti]

3:00 Their car literally stopped over pedestrian crossing

[@oleksandrpidhornyi]

So is this what Arizona looks like in December :D

[@karanbhullar7681]

I live in Arizona and seeing Waymos is really really really common now. You can also sometimes see Uber’s self driving cars and I also once saw an Intel self driving car. It’s really cool

[@clarkstewart8564]

It’s not that I don’t trust self driving cars, it’s that I don’t trust other drivers around them

[@mike8055]

What if a carjacker holds up a stop sign and tries to steal/vandalise the car?

[@nonconsensualopinion]

Then the police are called to report a stolen vehicle or vandalism of personal property. Same as a human driver. What would you do if someone wearing a reflective vest approached your car holding a stop sign and pulled a gun on you?

[@misterpillows2800]

Can't wait to try waymo.

[@ArnaudJoakim]

The future is exciting!

[@davidli313]

It’s 2019, where’s my self flying car?

[@Google_Does_Evil_Now]

"They took our jobs!"

[@JakeobE]

THEY TEERK YER JERBS!

[@01biraj]

please don't drive a taxi and write a comment in youtube

[@ritapitaritapita7656]

I’m a professional typewriter and smart-phones took my job too 'Go with the Flow' that’s all what we can do It’s a new era and a new generation

[@3stans936]

I remember seeing one of these when I went to see some family in Phoenix (had a great time btw) and it was kinda cool, I wasn't able to see or really follow it (since I was just riding) but it was still nifty

[@dougroyce5784]

I definitely would love to own a self driving vehicle! Definitely worth the investment!

[@mrbear1302]

Great idea in AZ; however, this will never work in most other places due to weather concerns.

[@luongmaihunggia]

What about the weather?

[@mrbear1302]

@@luongmaihunggia you would trust something like this in the snow? Monsoon?

[@luongmaihunggia]

@@mrbear1302 would you trust any human driving in the snow? Human is just as bad at driving in bad weather.

[@mrbear1302]

@@luongmaihunggia After 16 years in Denver I have gotten pretty good at driving in the snow. There are a lot of fools out there. Especially the ones from Texas who move to Colorado, who don't even know what snow is....lol.

[@luongmaihunggia]

@@mrbear1302 one time, the rain was so heavy for my family. We literally can't see 1 meter in front of us.

[@Supreme_Lobster]

"If you need geofencing you dont have an autonomous car" -Elon Musk, 2019

[@MrWizardjr9]

if your car runs into road dividers and firetrucks you dont have an autonomous car

[@luongmaihunggia]

Elon Musk also said stupid things like loosening COVID-19 restrictions. Not everything he said are great. Just because a person is some famous celebrity doesn't mean everything they said are right.

[@rogergeyer9851]

Given Musk's record re ANYTHING he has predicted re Tesla, timing, and FSD, well, he should just shut up.

[@jhwblender]

One thing that helps me trust Waymo's cars better than I trust most human drivers is the fact that they can see 360* around them at all times and be able to analyze it much faster than we can. Most of the near accidents that I have witnessed and been a part of have been mainly due to not being able to see everything going on around me at once. I also do not trust myself in a tense situation where my brain makes rash decisions. Where for Waymo: it's same-old same-old and 'thinks' just as clearly in an emergency situation as a boring drive.

[@skifree0]

well actually that kind of depends....If waymo is using a form of machine learning for its driving architecture, there are indeed situations in an emergency where it just doesn't have enough data to make the best decision. As statistically terrible humans are at driving, the human mind is incredibly efficient at taking in and using experience to produce an effective result (driving). Waymo collectively has 8 million miles of driving distance, that produces a cautious but not completely competent driver. A human can "mostly" negotiate a driving situation with less than a few thousand miles of experience. Waymo may be statistically safer, but if thrown into a situation where it just has never trained for, I doubt it will be as competent as a human driver.

[@AboutCreativity1]

Yes, Ready!.

[@rjsprojects]

Wow, they need to keep them on the road 24/7 to offset the tech costs yet they put the whole system inside of a Chrysler. Seems like an oxymoron to me.

[@MichaelGGarry]

The tech costs will come down over time, but the real saving is in increased safety, after that the next saving is in human time saved....

[@rogergeyer9851]

Rick Spagna : In the real world, computer transactions in the 60's were very expensive. 50 years later, to cheap to be worth tracking, like long distance phone calls. Funny how that works.

[@nvgwd3r]

34 hours a year in traffic 😂😂😂 is that supposed to be much? I spent like 20x that

[@vdinh143]

Millennial here, definitely would hail an autonomous taxi every time I have an opportunity to.

[@RayThackeray]

I just had a huge revelation about the introduction of self-driving vehicles. When a car manufacturer gets to the point (2-3 years from now?) that they have statistical data demonstrating safety of automatic versus human driving, they can go to insurance companies and say "If you completely indemnify the car in full-auto mode, you give us a percentage on the actuarial cost savings". I presume the developers have already thought of this but I am a bit slow...

[@ameersuliman6250]

A transport that is cost efficient, convenience that already exist. Its called a public bus. Cities just need to spend more to improve public transport

[@briangodfrey5079]

Yes, long as Amazon can use their Uber self-driving contractors and their drones to deliver all the stuff people buy, then buses would work for moving us around. But most people don't want to schlep all of their stuff on/off of buses all the time.

[@geoffl]

how much do you think the bus would cost if it wasn't subsidized? If waymo provides only the same quality as public transport, it is better because there is no subsidization by the taxpapers.

[@alejandroooow]

Ameer Suliman I’m my city they’re working to change all the public transports into electric, most is the public bus are now ecologic and they’re electric.

[@Biru_to]

How is a bus convenient? You have to go to a predefined spot, hope you don't have to wait too long, pay for your ride in some way, hope there is a spot to sit, make sure you know where to get off, and then get off and walk to where you want to be. And hope it's close by.. Taxi's are way more convenient.

[@alejandroooow]

Derick Wong Friedrich in my city there’s an app to look when it’s coming so you can leave home whenever you need to. It has got many features.

[@affanmir6212]

Great Technology

[@AwosAtis]

I hope the first road rage incident involving a robot car is documented. That'd go viral!

[@SpartanFighter1973]

To answer your final question, yes. Yes I would. Bring on the future!

[@RezwanNavide]

This is the future! Human error on road is way too much and it will be life-saving the long run I hope. To all the people who are saying these are worse, it's actually not. Although it didn't reach its final form, but it's still better than 'most' humans.

[@abcdxx1059]

No its not and will not be for at least a decade these cars are no way near any human

[@RezwanNavide]

@@abcdxx1059 I read some research on this that humans' error rate was higher than these self-driving cars. Can't remember which one, but you might be right (Might be making the whole thing up in my head). But rest assured, one day it will surely surpass humans

[@james575730]

@@RezwanNavide that's not really fair, a fair comparison would be to have as many sdcs on the road as human drivers and sdcs have to be driving everywhere, as of now, the sdcs are not able to drive every where in all conditions therefore the humans are better drivers than currant sdcs, even in the sdcs limited areas they are often taken over by a human driver. Also, human driving has improved dramatically per capita is something to be acknowledged

[@RezwanNavide]

Javid Bencosme Agreed. Self driving still has a long way to go. But cars being one of the prime mode of transportation orientated accident, I just hope to see this technology gets perfected and used everywhere

[@james575730]

@@RezwanNavide I dont, I think it will be boring after awhile, where it would be cool is a automated Disney land like park where robots are everywhere, but in the real world, its lifeless and pointless in my opinion. I think where it could be nice is as an option in your own vehicle but we already have something like that, forgot the name but people use it on the highway to let go of the exilerator and brakes while your car rides at the same speed

[@silverwess]

what happens when the Waymo car is stopped by Car Jackers that want to rob the riders? The car will stop and let them rob you that is what will happen. as soon as those that would do this type of crime figure out that these type of cars will just stop for you these crimes will start to occur. yes i know they have cameras but you think that a robber can not adjust for this?

[@kylemcpherson8830]

Robots handle high stress situations far better than humans bar none. Most of a car jackers success comes from the fact that they move quickly and are able to get their victims away from the steering wheel and any way to call the police before they even know whats going on. A autonomous vehicle would most likely have safety features that kick in the moment they sense danger. These would look something like auto locking of the doors, an automatic phone call and live video feed of the event that is sent straight to the police and even potentially a "flee" mode that the police can activate when they see the live video footage. This "flee" mode could activate the car to flee without regard for the laws of the road but with far more skill than any driver with that much adrenaline running through their system. Also the ability to give police control over the "flee" mode would alleviate the passengers from any legal repercussions. Also autonomous cars are programmed not to commit any crimes on the road so having fully blacked out windows wouldn't be an issue. Having this feature would make it so that anyone attempting to rob the vehicle would have no idea if there's anyone even inside. If anything I think autonomous cars could significantly decrees car jackings.

[@vincentramsey4481]

You act like an uber driver will protect you mlre frrom a rober but they wont. Atleast if its a robot there can be a panic feature to automatically alert the police & turn on a siren and lock the doors. Its much safer than a person. Jjst think about it

[@chrisalbertson5838]

You have to be REALLY stupid to rob a robot car. It has like 16 camera and radars and LIDAR and the entire even would be store on servers some place even after as you ran away the sensors woud track you for 200 meters. One thinks I like to work on is secondary uses for the cars. For example, when a car is parked it could be using it's sensors as a security camera ir to augment the sensors of nearby cars. There could be MANY secondary uses for a suite of sensors. What about motion capture for animation films? What if a bunch of cars forms a circle and actors perform in the center and the performance is captured in 3D and 360 degrees. Or perhaps not actors but gamers with VR goggles. So much to be done with these powerful sensors and supercomputers. back to the carjacker, Imagine a world with an interconnect network of car sensors doing a secondary function of security. The robbers could be fully tracked and found.

[@GordonChaffin]

Shoutout to Tempe, AZ! Forks Up!

[@sureshnagulapalli2605]

I'm part of this project that works on Navigation of this car.. And I'm proud to say that this is the safest way for transportation

[@dzonikg]

Trains are safest

[@cyruscherry35]

Do you think this technology will replace me??? I'm a truck driver

[@sureshnagulapalli2605]

@@dzonikg no.. these are only for passenger transportation .. It will take upto 50 to 70 years for trucks automation

[@cyruscherry35]

@@sureshnagulapalli2605 wat about the telsa trucks I see all over KZbin???

[@sureshnagulapalli2605]

@@cyruscherry35 eventhough they need a driver.. they just cruise with normal speed and if they encounter any changes in road or highyway they switch to manual and driver has to take the control of the steering wheel

[@lordwiadro83]

Funny how 2-3 years ago Waymo and the likes said we would have self-driving cars by now. It's the end of 2018 and they are beginning to ask "do we really need them" and "what people really need are bicycles". This may be another 3D television: lots of hype, but nothing useful at the end.

[@Lildizzle420]

well because the cars are inducing demand on our streets and especially here in the Phoenix area our population is rapidly growing and our highways / roads are reaching max capacity if not already and now people want to put even more vehicles on the road

[@Commentator541]

I preffer a bike. Now if these WERE SMALL and reduced the congestion while costing less then a regular car, I'd go for one.

[@kurtlowder3276]

we had big expectations. now because its behind schedule there is a trough of disillustion meant. They are being super conservative, because a few deaths will cause mobs (mostly metaphorically speaking). lawsuits, panic, etc. waymo is in the lead, but so many trials are going on internationally. there will be areas that are less risk averse, and they have a good chance of catching and/or surpassing waymo. its difficult because the brains behind self-driving keep getting poached. that is difficult short-term but long term that just means you have a large number of companies becoming proficient in self-driving technology.

[@Aryan-tz7zk]

I mean who wants their car to drive it self, am i the only one who loves driving

[@nicholasdelucca]

And that's great! This will not impede you from driving whenever you want to, but will allow people who don't like driving in general, or just don't want to drive at the moment to have the option to not have to.

Or have to travel 2500 Km in two drivers. I wish I could sleep at least on highways on our ways to Norway, or read a book on my way to job (public transport takes 3 times longer), but of course I love to drive on scenic roads or on small trips in weekend.

[@udishomer5852]

If I need to go somewhere in the "small" metropolis I live in, with 12 million people, I would rather do it in a self driving taxi.

[@valeera5415]

can i use one as a getaway car/driver both in one?

[@vascoamaralgrilo]

Bring on the Waymos!

[@81chrisling]

Id trust a machine over a human any day. There are too many bad human drivers out there and our emotions and fatigue are what make us poor at driving. Time to let something else takeover!

[@udishomer5852]

Not to mention drunk drivers, people driving while under influence of drugs, older people with very slow reflexes, etc. Machines will be far superior drivers within 5 years at the most. Its the same as chess: today's best human chess player can't win a single game against a good chess engine, and an average human will be crushed in 15 moves.

[@guildrich]

@@udishomer5852 I always thought that technology was supposed to _improve_ our lives; not put us "out to pasture".

[@Vision33r]

This won't work in NYC, the road conditions in big cities is 10x more complex than this. You have people, bikers, drivers that don't follow signs or traffic lights. Double parking cars, taxis that crosses the yellow line, and all sorts of emergency vehicles rushing by you. Waymo will just sit there and block traffic in NYC.

[@andrw90210]

Yes can't wait for them to bring it to NYC

[@gomusicproduction1]

Self driving car with a guy behind a wheel awesome 👏🏻

[@funny-video-YouTube-channel]

Nice car. Might be even *better than people on pills :-)* Or might be better than tired drivers with sleep deprivation. Let's see where this technology will take us. Or drive us :-)

[@santi32r27]

Yes yes I would be a passenger in an autonomous vehicle

[@ConnoisseurOfExistence]

I would prefer a driverless car any day. Can't wait for Waymo cars to arrive to London, UK...

[@korona277]

What kind of sensor is that spinning one? Would it work in the snow?

[@warrenwb8349]

If you really wanna test that car, bring it to Atlanta.

[@MichaelGGarry]

India and the Philippines laugh in your direction....

[@ivanrs2607]

Or NYC

[@andyjayhawkins]

Waymo is testing its self-driving trucks in Atlanta.

[@samrichards8251]

Think we will find Tesla will be the ones WAY ahead of the game. Hope this company does well after so much effort but can’t see them winning.

[@ThePianotizer]

Imagine a world in the year 2050 where 99.9% of all vehicles are electric and/or fully autonomous. That world is coming very soon and I’m sure as hell excited to be a part of that world!

[@ryccoh]

Alright perfect follow-up to this video for you: The Boring Company 😎 Since you asked many hard transportation related questions

[@bigsquez]

The only way to advance and make self-driving cars the future is with government intervention. For example, the government needs to push towards making the streets technologically advance. Every street sign, street lights, and have every new automobile (or license plate) to have some kind of RFID tag (radio-frequency identification) built-in so the future self-driving cars can identify these. Because Self-driving cars need to know what things are when driving and if the government can make it easier for AI to do that then more auto companies will join in. Only then can we make self-driving cars the future.

[@JonathanTash]

Can you even hear yourself? We should not be catering our lives to robots which are supposed to be serving us! The robots should be learning how our world works because, at the end of the day, they are tools for improving our lives, and not gods that we have to yield ourselves to.

[@bigsquez]

Jonathan Tash i hear you but that is a slow progress to making self-driving cars the future. Just think about it. Everyone is doing their only thing from the ground up (writing code/building the car). We dont have companies sharing codes/ideas. With the Government help we can at least speed up the progress by building the foundation for self-driving cars.

[@briangodfrey5079]

@@JonathanTash Our roads and signs and signals are setup for human drivers not because we are supreme, but because we are the drivers who need to use them. It only makes good sense to setup the roads and signals and signs for bot-cars if they are going to be the drivers of the future. If a person really needs to feel superior, consider that every ride will be like being a rich guy in a limo.

[@xjones2087]

@@JonathanTash and they enable the corporations to use less and less humans in their services. Humans need jobs or the rest of humanity needs to create a support system for humans when robots are doing everything. philosophyofX com

[@TheCharleseye]

A) Everything the government involves themselves in ends up costing taxpayers WAY more than it should. B) Our current street signs and lights are VERY simple to understand. My ten-year-old could likely pass the written exam. If a driverless car isn't capable of knowing the difference between a big, red octagon with the word STOP and a big, yellow triangle with the word YIELD, I definitely don't trust it to know the difference between a speed bump and a person. Or are we all supposed to start wearing clothes with big QR codes on them, to let the machines know to spare us? No. They can be either be adapted to the world as it is, or they can be scrapped as a pipe dream until such time as they're viable. We have no pressing need to expedite the inclusion of driverless cars. Especially considering that - if the government was going to do anything about the mortality rates - it would be _sooo_ much easier and more affordable to just make it harder to get a driver's license and add a zero tolerance law for drunk driving (as in, get caught once and lose your license forever, nationally). They haven't and they won't. Why? Because they make a lot of money off of vehicle sales tax and registration. Those get reduced with less drivers and all but disappear in your driverless Utopia.

[@utkarshmaurya6877]

Ok no matter how much technology improves...i will never be ready to take a ride in a taxi without a human driver...

[@andyjayhawkins]

It's admittedly really weird, but maybe you'll eventually get used to it.

[@nicholasdelucca]

Most likely people thought the same of cars. I believe it will just need some getting used to.

[@mr.person2226]

Your loss...

[@noname-ic3zq]

but you prob take the plane which use auto pilot

[@utkarshmaurya6877]

@@noname-ic3zq Plane has two human pilots... it's not fully auto-pilot...

[@OladipupoAdaraloye]

oh yes absolutely, I would definitely would love to ride in a self driving car

[@JoeMommacita]

I would, this seems like fun!