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> While the passenger is at work, the self-driving car will be giving rides to other people, or delivering packages and meals (not parking or driving around emp

> While the passenger is at work, the self-driving car will be giving rides to other people, or delivering packages and meals (not parking or driving around empty). Says who? I certainly don't want random people inside my car when I'm not around. Don't really feel like having "For a good time call 867-5309" and a drawing of a penis gouged into my center console, and having the seatbacks tagged with magic marker. ("We're sorry to hear that, sir. We have credited your account with a $25 credit for your trouble.") 130 million people drive to work every day in the USA. Something like 115 million cars. There are maybe 200,000 taxis in the USA. If we put 1 million cars to work, we've still got 114 million sitting idle, or rather, doing loops around the block because it's cheaper. > Greater car sharing Says who? You can already carpool and have ALL of the advantages of a self-driving car, it's just Larry driving the car instead of Waymo. But as everyone on HN will tell you, they don't want to carpool, they want to ride alone. Riding with others is what poor people do. You also have the economics totally backward. Your assertion is that driving will be better in every way - easier personally, less congestion, cheaper parking - and as a result, there will be less driving? Utterly backwards. Make something cheaper easier or better, and we use more of it, not less.

swiley 8y ago
I'm not sure it's really an economic thing. I think most people here are just excited about another application of software.
manmal 8y ago
Carsharing with autonomous cars will be way cheaper and 100% ubiquitous. I don’t even have Uber in my hometown, and I‘d love to get rid of my car. I‘m quite sure I could save €200 every month.
panarky 8y ago
> I certainly don't want random people inside my car when I'm not around It's not your car, it's Waymo's car. Waymo outfits the cars, provides continuous monitoring and support, operates a fleet of field techs for repair and cleaning, takes responsibility for insurance and regulatory compliance, provides dispatch and routing services, collects payments, etc. The cost is justified by high utilization of the fleet. The economics don't work for a single car doing nothing 95% of the time. Why would anyone want to own their own self-driver? > Utterly backwards. Make something cheaper easier or better, and we use more of it, not less. Yep, it's impossible to make anything cheaper, easier or better, because it instantly goes to shit when people want more of it.
- viraptor 8y ago
  > Why would anyone want to own their own self-driver? Because they don't live in a large city for example. It's easier to cover a known average of rides with a million of users than when you have a town of 2000. You have a normal day where many projects walk to work, you get a local event where 200 people may turn to, you get forest fire where 2000 people need to get out.
jogjayr 8y ago
It's 100% true that all the benefits of self-driving cars will be for naught if there's no congestion pricing implemented for driving alone. This will be either in the form of a toll or tax, or by making all but one of the freeway lanes shared-ride only. Once you've implemented congestion pricing, riding with others is what 99% of people will be doing and the stigma is gone. If you don't want to ride in a car with graffiti etc. there'll be an option to order a better quality of ride.

swiley 8y ago

I'm not sure it's really an economic thing. I think most people here are just excited about another application of software.

manmal 8y ago

Carsharing with autonomous cars will be way cheaper and 100% ubiquitous. I don’t even have Uber in my hometown, and I‘d love to get rid of my car. I‘m quite sure I could save €200 every month.

panarky 8y ago

> I certainly don't want random people inside my car when I'm not around It's not your car, it's Waymo's car. Waymo outfits the cars, provides continuous monitoring and support, operates a fleet of field techs for repair and cleaning, takes responsibility for insurance and regulatory compliance, provides dispatch and routing services, collects payments, etc. The cost is justified by high utilization of the fleet. The economics don't work for a single car doing nothing 95% of the time. Why would anyone want to own their own self-driver? > Utterly backwards. Make something cheaper easier or better, and we use more of it, not less. Yep, it's impossible to make anything cheaper, easier or better, because it instantly goes to shit when people want more of it.

viraptor 8y ago
> Why would anyone want to own their own self-driver? Because they don't live in a large city for example. It's easier to cover a known average of rides with a million of users than when you have a town of 2000. You have a normal day where many projects walk to work, you get a local event where 200 people may turn to, you get forest fire where 2000 people need to get out.

jogjayr 8y ago

It's 100% true that all the benefits of self-driving cars will be for naught if there's no congestion pricing implemented for driving alone. This will be either in the form of a toll or tax, or by making all but one of the freeway lanes shared-ride only. Once you've implemented congestion pricing, riding with others is what 99% of people will be doing and the stigma is gone. If you don't want to ride in a car with graffiti etc. there'll be an option to order a better quality of ride.