7 ms·

There are anecdotes of Google Maps causing traffic, routing people to dead ends, etc. There was the incident where Google Maps routed a lot of interstate drive

There are anecdotes of Google Maps causing traffic, routing people to dead ends, etc. There was the incident where Google Maps routed a lot of interstate drivers down a dirt road serving a prison. Last week in Oakland, Google routed drivers away from traffic on I-880, onto Embarcadero where the bridge is closed for construction. Last week, Google refused to route me over the open, clear Sonora Pass between Modesto and Bridgeport, giving me instead a 2.5-hour detour via US-50 to South Lake Tahoe. I'm sure this Waymo project does not take the perfection of Google Maps data as a given.

eggpy 9y ago
I wasn't aware of these, but with anecdotes like these then it makes perfect sense to have available remote human overrides! I don't mean to insinuate that maps is perfect, just that the number of times the cars will find themselves in this specific situation is probably minimal.
- mantas 9y ago
  Eh, in my whereabouts Google Maps routinely suggest "shortcuts" on shitty dirt roads instead of 10km "detour" on a perfect tarmac road. And use 70km/h (speed limit for dirt roads) to guesstimate duration for the shortcut. It got to a point that I'm double-checking their suggestions via sat photos or other routing services.
- dx034 9y ago
  Also local human overrides. I as a passenger want to determine the route to take. Maybe I just don't like the recommended route, maybe I know that it won't work. There's no reason why the passenger shouldn't be able to determine the route.
  - giosch 9y ago
    Only if you own the car. If you are using uber you cannot choose the route...
    - speedplane 9y ago
      Yes, actually, you can ask the driver to take another route. Uber may just change the price.
speedplane 9y ago
> I'm sure this Waymo project does not take the perfection of Google Maps data as a given. Agreed, it would be nuts if they did. Construction happens all the time. One day there is a bridge, the next day there isn't. Roads get destroyed by storms. I'm sure they have some way of detecting that the map doesn't match reality and have a variety of ways of dealing with that.

eggpy 9y ago

I wasn't aware of these, but with anecdotes like these then it makes perfect sense to have available remote human overrides! I don't mean to insinuate that maps is perfect, just that the number of times the cars will find themselves in this specific situation is probably minimal.

mantas 9y ago
Eh, in my whereabouts Google Maps routinely suggest "shortcuts" on shitty dirt roads instead of 10km "detour" on a perfect tarmac road. And use 70km/h (speed limit for dirt roads) to guesstimate duration for the shortcut. It got to a point that I'm double-checking their suggestions via sat photos or other routing services.
dx034 9y ago
Also local human overrides. I as a passenger want to determine the route to take. Maybe I just don't like the recommended route, maybe I know that it won't work. There's no reason why the passenger shouldn't be able to determine the route.
- giosch 9y ago
  Only if you own the car. If you are using uber you cannot choose the route...
  - speedplane 9y ago
    Yes, actually, you can ask the driver to take another route. Uber may just change the price.

speedplane 9y ago

> I'm sure this Waymo project does not take the perfection of Google Maps data as a given. Agreed, it would be nuts if they did. Construction happens all the time. One day there is a bridge, the next day there isn't. Roads get destroyed by storms. I'm sure they have some way of detecting that the map doesn't match reality and have a variety of ways of dealing with that.