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"Prior to the judge’s ruling, San Francisco-based Uber indicated it had a long-term solution to the debate about driver classification: driverless vehicles. Ube

"Prior to the judge’s ruling, San Francisco-based Uber indicated it had a long-term solution to the debate about driver classification: driverless vehicles. Uber said earlier Thursday it plans to begin testing autonomous vehicles in Pittsburgh as soon as this month, featuring technology that would eventually make human drivers obsolete." Well I guess that's one way to accelerate innovation lol

tn13 10y ago
If the human drivers become painpoint this innovation is going to go a lot faster. I think driver of the world can untie and pressurize the government to stop this innovation in infancy :P
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
- hmate9 10y ago
  http://s2.quickmeme.com/img/2f/2f3640a3393b93b2fb5049e133de5addf3bef697aa7e96e11d866c2399f0b0e8.jpg http://s2.quickmeme.com/img/2f/2f3640a3393b93b2fb5049e133de5...
  - dpiers 10y ago
    This isn't the forum for memes and image replies. Tn13 may not have the best grasp of the English language, but I was able to understand what he/she said and felt they added value to the conversation. Memes do not.
    - hmate9 10y ago
      It was just some banter.
- bitJericho 10y ago
  Stopping innovation is what I'm all about! Actually I dislike uber because of how they flout regulations and hurt workers. But if they get rid of the workers altogether, It would be hard to complain. Especially if fairs become a fraction of the price.
  - Pyxl101 10y ago
    What regulations have they flouted? I'd be interested to learn more because I hear this claim occasionally but haven't heard the details behind it. Could you share more details?
    - Aaargh20318 10y ago
      They provide a taxi service without a proper taxi license.
      - Pyxl101 10y ago
        Could you be more specific? In which jurisdiction do they provide a taxi service without a license? Could you provide a source? Many (most?) jurisdictions differentiate between for-hire-vehicles and taxis, and Uber doesn't operate unlicensed taxis as far as I know. I don't want to claim to know everything about Uber - but services like their black car and UberX service are not considered taxis in most jurisdictions that I'm aware of, for a number of reasons including because they accept only rides that were arranged in advance, they have no special paint job or advertising, etc. According to Quora, Uber does operate "UberTaxis" and those are actual medallioned taxis: https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-difference-between-an-UberX-Uber-Black-and-Uber-Taxi https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-difference-between-an-Uber... - so it seems to me that Uber's classic services were never regulated by taxi laws to begin with, and the actual taxi services they have now comply with them. I'd like to learn more about this topic though, since I find the boundary between business and law interesting in this case, so I will be glad to review further details if someone can provide them. (I have no connection to Uber nor that industry except as a once-in-a-while customer.)
        pyrale 10y ago
        Uber has been condemned in several euro countries for operating illegal services and bankrolling their drivers when they get caught. Googling 'uber pays lawyers to drivers' also gives matches for NA although I didn't look the details.
      - 10y ago
yladiz 10y ago
However, you can't just put in more money into development of a technology and get linear returns. Eventually you're gonna hit diminishing returns, so there's not too much they can do to accelerate it beyond what they're already doing (except adding more researchers, possibly). I would be surprised if Uber gets very far with their autonomous vehicle testing, especially in difficult driving conditions where LIDAR and sensors don't perform so well, until they can't reliably export it to other markets. There are some of the smartest minds in the world working on this and still haven't figured it out, and Uber's researchers are no exception. And this also completely disregards the legislation side of things, which would prove to be a huge obstacle as well, even with Uber's obscene amount of money they pour into it.
- lallysingh 10y ago
  To their advantage: 1) Plenty of cash coming in for research 2) Use to skirting laws that get in their way - so they may just start cutting back on costs later. Maybe have the human operator remote in, instead of actually sit in the car.
  - cmdrfred 10y ago
    Number 2 is a good idea until you realize most uber drivers are lower income people with relatively high latency connections. Add in that most of them will probably be on WiFi and its a non-starter.
    - lallysingh 10y ago
      I was thinking more about adding a high-quality custom a/v/control setup directly to the car, with "drivers" going to some office with a crap-ton of monitors.
      - cmdrfred 10y ago
        That is a lot of trust you are putting into the cell network.
shostack 10y ago
In all of this I have to wonder what their drivers (current and prospective ) think of these plans.
gerbilly 10y ago
>it plans to begin testing autonomous vehicles in Pittsburgh How are they going to convince the owners of the autonomous vehicles to lend them their cars for free? :-) Wouldn't this change Uber, since now they'd have to make a massive capital investment to operate?
- mtgx 10y ago
  Uber wants to own the self-driving cars, rather than use other people's cars. This does indeed change their business significantly, because now they have to buy and operate all of those cars themselves, rather than being "just an app" that takes a commission from what the drivers make. If Uber is not careful with cost management, it could very well sink the company.
  - d4rti 10y ago
    They could work with leasing companies, or even with private individuals / companies who own the vehicles and get a cut of the usage. It seems unlikely to me though.
    - toomuchtodo 10y ago
      Why partner with Uber when you can keep the margins yourself (Like GM, Ford, BMW, and Tesla, all who can build the vehicles and have signaled they will be offering autonomous vehicles). Without a factory to make their own vehicles, Uber has no advantage.
dhoe 10y ago
Do we have any evidence that Uber would be any good at pulling that off? So far their core competence has been finding more or less creative workarounds for local laws. That's not exactly the quality that I look for in a supplier of autonomous driving services.
alistairSH 10y ago
Are Uber's customers even ready for driverless taxis? It's one thing to trust your Tesla, when you're behind the wheel and can re-take control. It's another mental leap to get in the back-seat. I would be hesitant to trust a new technology developed by a company with a record of skirting laws and regulations.

tn13 10y ago

If the human drivers become painpoint this innovation is going to go a lot faster. I think driver of the world can untie and pressurize the government to stop this innovation in infancy :P

deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
hmate9 10y ago
http://s2.quickmeme.com/img/2f/2f3640a3393b93b2fb5049e133de5addf3bef697aa7e96e11d866c2399f0b0e8.jpg http://s2.quickmeme.com/img/2f/2f3640a3393b93b2fb5049e133de5...
- dpiers 10y ago
  This isn't the forum for memes and image replies. Tn13 may not have the best grasp of the English language, but I was able to understand what he/she said and felt they added value to the conversation. Memes do not.
  - hmate9 10y ago
    It was just some banter.
bitJericho 10y ago
Stopping innovation is what I'm all about! Actually I dislike uber because of how they flout regulations and hurt workers. But if they get rid of the workers altogether, It would be hard to complain. Especially if fairs become a fraction of the price.
- Pyxl101 10y ago
  What regulations have they flouted? I'd be interested to learn more because I hear this claim occasionally but haven't heard the details behind it. Could you share more details?
  - Aaargh20318 10y ago
    They provide a taxi service without a proper taxi license.
    - Pyxl101 10y ago
      Could you be more specific? In which jurisdiction do they provide a taxi service without a license? Could you provide a source? Many (most?) jurisdictions differentiate between for-hire-vehicles and taxis, and Uber doesn't operate unlicensed taxis as far as I know. I don't want to claim to know everything about Uber - but services like their black car and UberX service are not considered taxis in most jurisdictions that I'm aware of, for a number of reasons including because they accept only rides that were arranged in advance, they have no special paint job or advertising, etc. According to Quora, Uber does operate "UberTaxis" and those are actual medallioned taxis: https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-difference-between-an-UberX-Uber-Black-and-Uber-Taxi https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-difference-between-an-Uber... - so it seems to me that Uber's classic services were never regulated by taxi laws to begin with, and the actual taxi services they have now comply with them. I'd like to learn more about this topic though, since I find the boundary between business and law interesting in this case, so I will be glad to review further details if someone can provide them. (I have no connection to Uber nor that industry except as a once-in-a-while customer.)
      - pyrale 10y ago
        Uber has been condemned in several euro countries for operating illegal services and bankrolling their drivers when they get caught. Googling 'uber pays lawyers to drivers' also gives matches for NA although I didn't look the details.
    - 10y ago

yladiz 10y ago

However, you can't just put in more money into development of a technology and get linear returns. Eventually you're gonna hit diminishing returns, so there's not too much they can do to accelerate it beyond what they're already doing (except adding more researchers, possibly). I would be surprised if Uber gets very far with their autonomous vehicle testing, especially in difficult driving conditions where LIDAR and sensors don't perform so well, until they can't reliably export it to other markets. There are some of the smartest minds in the world working on this and still haven't figured it out, and Uber's researchers are no exception. And this also completely disregards the legislation side of things, which would prove to be a huge obstacle as well, even with Uber's obscene amount of money they pour into it.

lallysingh 10y ago
To their advantage: 1) Plenty of cash coming in for research 2) Use to skirting laws that get in their way - so they may just start cutting back on costs later. Maybe have the human operator remote in, instead of actually sit in the car.
- cmdrfred 10y ago
  Number 2 is a good idea until you realize most uber drivers are lower income people with relatively high latency connections. Add in that most of them will probably be on WiFi and its a non-starter.
  - lallysingh 10y ago
    I was thinking more about adding a high-quality custom a/v/control setup directly to the car, with "drivers" going to some office with a crap-ton of monitors.
    - cmdrfred 10y ago
      That is a lot of trust you are putting into the cell network.

shostack 10y ago

In all of this I have to wonder what their drivers (current and prospective ) think of these plans.

gerbilly 10y ago

>it plans to begin testing autonomous vehicles in Pittsburgh How are they going to convince the owners of the autonomous vehicles to lend them their cars for free? :-) Wouldn't this change Uber, since now they'd have to make a massive capital investment to operate?

mtgx 10y ago
Uber wants to own the self-driving cars, rather than use other people's cars. This does indeed change their business significantly, because now they have to buy and operate all of those cars themselves, rather than being "just an app" that takes a commission from what the drivers make. If Uber is not careful with cost management, it could very well sink the company.
- d4rti 10y ago
  They could work with leasing companies, or even with private individuals / companies who own the vehicles and get a cut of the usage. It seems unlikely to me though.
  - toomuchtodo 10y ago
    Why partner with Uber when you can keep the margins yourself (Like GM, Ford, BMW, and Tesla, all who can build the vehicles and have signaled they will be offering autonomous vehicles). Without a factory to make their own vehicles, Uber has no advantage.

dhoe 10y ago

Do we have any evidence that Uber would be any good at pulling that off? So far their core competence has been finding more or less creative workarounds for local laws. That's not exactly the quality that I look for in a supplier of autonomous driving services.

alistairSH 10y ago

Are Uber's customers even ready for driverless taxis? It's one thing to trust your Tesla, when you're behind the wheel and can re-take control. It's another mental leap to get in the back-seat. I would be hesitant to trust a new technology developed by a company with a record of skirting laws and regulations.