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Actually these Uber Volvo self driving cars have been picking up passengers using UberX in San Francisco for weeks. They're easy to spot because they have a hug

Actually these Uber Volvo self driving cars have been picking up passengers using UberX in San Francisco for weeks. They're easy to spot because they have a huge lidar contraption on the roof and a lot of camera's mounted on the roof, rear vision mirrors, and the rear tailgate of the vehicle. The depot they use is on Harrison and 3rd so you see a lot of them driving around the area just south of Market Street, which has a lot of traffic obstacles, construction, and pedestrians. They go very slow and stop often out of an abundance of caution, much to the consternation of impatient SF drivers behind them.

drcode 10y ago
If you think self driving cars are cool, wait until two years from now when you're stuck behind them in your morning commute every day, while they drive 15 miles under the speed limit.
- imgabe 10y ago
  Pretty tough to get stuck behind a car for very long while on a bike, so I'm not too worried.
- mseebach 10y ago
  15 mph under the speed limit during SF morning commute is ~30 mph faster than today, so that'll be awesome.
  - JimboOmega 10y ago
    But the speed limit in almost all of SF is 25?
    - galdosdi 10y ago
      Not on freeways
- wcummings 10y ago
  I can't wait to ride my fixie 5mph in front of them :)
  - disposablezero 10y ago
    They will run you over because you were classified by the AI as fog.
- rwmj 10y ago
  I look forward to the day when there are only careful, fully aware, sober, non-facebooking drivers on my morning commute.
- TuringNYC 10y ago
  That may be a downside, but consider the upside -- you wont need to drive the car so much of it can be productive time: sleep, read, code,...
jacobwcarlson 10y ago
Indeed, and I'm almost positive that I've seen models other than the C90s. I didn't realize that they were toting real passengers, though. I thought they were just Alpha Tests As Marketing. Given that they made this announcement the day after Google announced Waymo, I'm now convinced that's what they are, but I guess with real passengers?
- PascLeRasc 10y ago
  Sorry for being pedantic, but the C90 is a concept coupe. The XC90 is the SUV used for UberX self-driving.
kilbuz 10y ago
Were there paying passengers in those cars? I've seen the Fords around town, too, but I don't think they were carrying passengers.
- PascLeRasc 10y ago
  The Ford Fusions were used for data collection and always had two engineers in them. The XC90s are used for passengers and they had a free ride program for a little bit here in Pittsburgh.
saosebastiao 10y ago
I've never understood why people think traffic will move faster with self driving cars. The status quo is drivers driving well beyond the physical capabilities to stop given the conditions at hand. Sure, they might be able to cut down on reaction time, but they still can't do anything about physics. Given that these vehicles will shift the risk model from driver to manufacturer, and subsequently programmed to obey the laws (which include right of way), we might actually see pedestrians and cyclists using their right of way instead of being bullied away from it. The idea that cars can communicate with each other so they could drive closer together and faster is complete bullshit...Sure, it's possible, but what profit-driven company would ever take that risk knowing the real-world reliability of wireless communication? The idea that they won't drive around looking for parking? Welcome to your traffic jam of the future: https://twitter.com/yann_rouen/status/807781862022246401 https://twitter.com/yann_rouen/status/807781862022246401 Pretty much all the evidence points to very slow traffic in the future of self driving cars. As someone who mostly walks everywhere, I'm pretty excited.
- kabes 10y ago
  A lot of traffic jams are so called shockwave/phantom traffic jams and a lot of other ones are where lanes have to merge in each other. Those could be avoided with self driving cars. Maybe in the beginning they will be too cautious for that, but after some time and experience, I'm sure these optimizations will be implemented. It may not make the traffic in downtown SF faster, but it sure will make the traffic on the 101 from SF to San Jose faster. And good luck walking that.
  - erispoe 10y ago
    It is true but as pointed the benefits are mainly on highways.
  - saosebastiao 10y ago
    Those won't go away. They might be mitigated, but once again, you can only mitigate the portion that is due to driver error, and the major problem in those scenarios is physics. The shock wave phenomenon is one caused by physics (it literally is modeled by fluid dynamics simulation), exacerbated by limited visibility, and exacerbated once again by human reaction times. You can only get rid of the human reaction times, and maybe a little bit of visibility due to communication (although I'm extremely skeptical that there is any incentive for cars to rely on wireless communication to make decisions). Lanes merging is a physical bottleneck. Sure, humans might make the merge worse, but speed is still limited by the capacity bottleneck, not the friction of the merge. The zipper merge has never proven to be faster, merely safer and more space efficient. You'll get to the bottleneck faster, and cars that try to exit before the bottleneck will get out of your way faster, but that's about it.
packetized 10y ago
The depot is the former Otto building, I believe - seen plenty of Otto tractor cabs pulling off of the Bay Bridge, left on to Harrison, then straight down and into their garage/depot there.

drcode 10y ago

If you think self driving cars are cool, wait until two years from now when you're stuck behind them in your morning commute every day, while they drive 15 miles under the speed limit.

imgabe 10y ago
Pretty tough to get stuck behind a car for very long while on a bike, so I'm not too worried.
mseebach 10y ago
15 mph under the speed limit during SF morning commute is ~30 mph faster than today, so that'll be awesome.
- JimboOmega 10y ago
  But the speed limit in almost all of SF is 25?
  - galdosdi 10y ago
    Not on freeways
wcummings 10y ago
I can't wait to ride my fixie 5mph in front of them :)
- disposablezero 10y ago
  They will run you over because you were classified by the AI as fog.
rwmj 10y ago
I look forward to the day when there are only careful, fully aware, sober, non-facebooking drivers on my morning commute.
TuringNYC 10y ago
That may be a downside, but consider the upside -- you wont need to drive the car so much of it can be productive time: sleep, read, code,...

jacobwcarlson 10y ago

Indeed, and I'm almost positive that I've seen models other than the C90s. I didn't realize that they were toting real passengers, though. I thought they were just Alpha Tests As Marketing. Given that they made this announcement the day after Google announced Waymo, I'm now convinced that's what they are, but I guess with real passengers?

PascLeRasc 10y ago
Sorry for being pedantic, but the C90 is a concept coupe. The XC90 is the SUV used for UberX self-driving.

kilbuz 10y ago

Were there paying passengers in those cars? I've seen the Fords around town, too, but I don't think they were carrying passengers.

PascLeRasc 10y ago
The Ford Fusions were used for data collection and always had two engineers in them. The XC90s are used for passengers and they had a free ride program for a little bit here in Pittsburgh.

saosebastiao 10y ago

I've never understood why people think traffic will move faster with self driving cars. The status quo is drivers driving well beyond the physical capabilities to stop given the conditions at hand. Sure, they might be able to cut down on reaction time, but they still can't do anything about physics. Given that these vehicles will shift the risk model from driver to manufacturer, and subsequently programmed to obey the laws (which include right of way), we might actually see pedestrians and cyclists using their right of way instead of being bullied away from it. The idea that cars can communicate with each other so they could drive closer together and faster is complete bullshit...Sure, it's possible, but what profit-driven company would ever take that risk knowing the real-world reliability of wireless communication? The idea that they won't drive around looking for parking? Welcome to your traffic jam of the future: https://twitter.com/yann_rouen/status/807781862022246401 https://twitter.com/yann_rouen/status/807781862022246401 Pretty much all the evidence points to very slow traffic in the future of self driving cars. As someone who mostly walks everywhere, I'm pretty excited.

kabes 10y ago
A lot of traffic jams are so called shockwave/phantom traffic jams and a lot of other ones are where lanes have to merge in each other. Those could be avoided with self driving cars. Maybe in the beginning they will be too cautious for that, but after some time and experience, I'm sure these optimizations will be implemented. It may not make the traffic in downtown SF faster, but it sure will make the traffic on the 101 from SF to San Jose faster. And good luck walking that.
- erispoe 10y ago
  It is true but as pointed the benefits are mainly on highways.
- saosebastiao 10y ago
  Those won't go away. They might be mitigated, but once again, you can only mitigate the portion that is due to driver error, and the major problem in those scenarios is physics. The shock wave phenomenon is one caused by physics (it literally is modeled by fluid dynamics simulation), exacerbated by limited visibility, and exacerbated once again by human reaction times. You can only get rid of the human reaction times, and maybe a little bit of visibility due to communication (although I'm extremely skeptical that there is any incentive for cars to rely on wireless communication to make decisions). Lanes merging is a physical bottleneck. Sure, humans might make the merge worse, but speed is still limited by the capacity bottleneck, not the friction of the merge. The zipper merge has never proven to be faster, merely safer and more space efficient. You'll get to the bottleneck faster, and cars that try to exit before the bottleneck will get out of your way faster, but that's about it.

packetized 10y ago

The depot is the former Otto building, I believe - seen plenty of Otto tractor cabs pulling off of the Bay Bridge, left on to Harrison, then straight down and into their garage/depot there.