8 ms·

For drivers, there are only short term gains to be had. Fully autonomous vehicles are the centerpiece of the ride share roadmap (for Uber, Lyft and even Tesla).

by asaph 7y ago

For drivers, there are only short term gains to be had. Fully autonomous vehicles are the centerpiece of the ride share roadmap (for Uber, Lyft and even Tesla). Drivers might as well capitalize on short term opportunities while they still exist. There is no long term game for them.

throwaway2048 7y ago
Not holding my breath on that happening any time soon
- asaph 7y ago
  If it doesn't happen sometime soon, Uber and Lyft will go out of business. They need fully autonomous driving in order to achieve profitability. So Uber and Lyft either achieve self driving capabilities and get rid of the human drivers or go out of business and let the human drivers go. Either way human ride share drivers have no future. If anyone is looking at this occupation as anything other than temp work, they need a reality check.
  - pkaye 7y ago
    If full autonomous driving is achieved that I believe the Tesla approach seems it would be more successful. Car owners would send their cars out to drive customers around for money. Tesla would handle transactions and take a cut of the profit. Uber and Lyft don't need to be in this picture.
  - usaar333 7y ago
    > They need fully autonomous driving in order to achieve profitability. Why is this inherently true? Taxi services were profitable and Uber/Lyft are better than they ever were. I don't see why Uber/Lyft raising fares a bit would lead to an entire market collapse.
    - pkaye 7y ago
      Wall Street profitability is different than taxi driver profitability. Uber/Lyft have many highly paid employees too. Most taxi services are probably just ramen profitable except in a few lucrative areas.
  - ackbar03 7y ago
    Autonomous driving wasn't even part of their original business plan. They only relied on it once they came to realize they werent making money, The whole company's a shit show
Razengan 7y ago
As a commuter I long for the day after which I never have to interact with a human driver again.
- YeahSureWhyNot 7y ago
  and that's what's going to bring self driving taxis to market sooner than we think. car drives itself to your location, you drive it wherever you wanna go and leave it curbside. then the car drives itself wherever the next customers wants it to be. no need for drivers and 0 passenger liability.
  - raws 7y ago
    There will still be driver liability or did you mean to say the car drives the customer to the desired location?
    - YeahSureWhyNot 7y ago
      no the customer will be driving the car to their destination and since the self driving function will be off, the crash will drivers responsibility just like it is with rental cars
  - SheinhardtWigCo 7y ago
    0 passenger liability doesn’t do you much good if you’re still liable for hitting other vehicles and pedestrians.
- BurningFrog 7y ago
  That should also cut the price considerably. And the size of the vehicle.
- godzillabrennus 7y ago
  It’s already wonderful seeing touch screens and self checkout kiosks replacing retail workers who hated being there. The only issue is that the highest paid blue collar jobs left are in transportation and construction. Those are on the chopping block. Then what? What new system will we use to ensure those people have a life they find agreeable.
CPLX 7y ago
> Fully autonomous vehicles There’s no such thing. I wonder how long it will be until people realize that “fully autonomous vehicles” in the context of an unmanned taxi service means complete human level brain-replacing AI. It has literally nothing to do whatsoever with Uber or Lyft’s current business environment.
- matz1 7y ago
  Does it need complete human brain just for driving ?
  - CPLX 7y ago
    Can you think of another way for an autonomous vehicle to handle a stadium parking lot after a game, or a narrow street with lots of double parked cars after a snowstorm? These aren’t edge cases they happen all the time and they require something pretty similar to full AI. I’m not saying there won’t be semi-useful niche cases where “autonomous” vehicles are implemented before that, but “fully autonomous” taxis are like eleven steps away and there are no relevant prototypes at all today for that use case.
- sergers 7y ago
  I don't think it does... Waymo is on its way to doing it in phoenix

by asaph 7y ago

throwaway2048 7y ago

Not holding my breath on that happening any time soon

asaph 7y ago
If it doesn't happen sometime soon, Uber and Lyft will go out of business. They need fully autonomous driving in order to achieve profitability. So Uber and Lyft either achieve self driving capabilities and get rid of the human drivers or go out of business and let the human drivers go. Either way human ride share drivers have no future. If anyone is looking at this occupation as anything other than temp work, they need a reality check.
- pkaye 7y ago
  If full autonomous driving is achieved that I believe the Tesla approach seems it would be more successful. Car owners would send their cars out to drive customers around for money. Tesla would handle transactions and take a cut of the profit. Uber and Lyft don't need to be in this picture.
- usaar333 7y ago
  > They need fully autonomous driving in order to achieve profitability. Why is this inherently true? Taxi services were profitable and Uber/Lyft are better than they ever were. I don't see why Uber/Lyft raising fares a bit would lead to an entire market collapse.
  - pkaye 7y ago
    Wall Street profitability is different than taxi driver profitability. Uber/Lyft have many highly paid employees too. Most taxi services are probably just ramen profitable except in a few lucrative areas.
- ackbar03 7y ago
  Autonomous driving wasn't even part of their original business plan. They only relied on it once they came to realize they werent making money, The whole company's a shit show

Razengan 7y ago

As a commuter I long for the day after which I never have to interact with a human driver again.

YeahSureWhyNot 7y ago
and that's what's going to bring self driving taxis to market sooner than we think. car drives itself to your location, you drive it wherever you wanna go and leave it curbside. then the car drives itself wherever the next customers wants it to be. no need for drivers and 0 passenger liability.
- raws 7y ago
  There will still be driver liability or did you mean to say the car drives the customer to the desired location?
  - YeahSureWhyNot 7y ago
    no the customer will be driving the car to their destination and since the self driving function will be off, the crash will drivers responsibility just like it is with rental cars
- SheinhardtWigCo 7y ago
  0 passenger liability doesn’t do you much good if you’re still liable for hitting other vehicles and pedestrians.
BurningFrog 7y ago
That should also cut the price considerably. And the size of the vehicle.
godzillabrennus 7y ago
It’s already wonderful seeing touch screens and self checkout kiosks replacing retail workers who hated being there. The only issue is that the highest paid blue collar jobs left are in transportation and construction. Those are on the chopping block. Then what? What new system will we use to ensure those people have a life they find agreeable.

CPLX 7y ago

> Fully autonomous vehicles There’s no such thing. I wonder how long it will be until people realize that “fully autonomous vehicles” in the context of an unmanned taxi service means complete human level brain-replacing AI. It has literally nothing to do whatsoever with Uber or Lyft’s current business environment.

matz1 7y ago
Does it need complete human brain just for driving ?
- CPLX 7y ago
  Can you think of another way for an autonomous vehicle to handle a stadium parking lot after a game, or a narrow street with lots of double parked cars after a snowstorm? These aren’t edge cases they happen all the time and they require something pretty similar to full AI. I’m not saying there won’t be semi-useful niche cases where “autonomous” vehicles are implemented before that, but “fully autonomous” taxis are like eleven steps away and there are no relevant prototypes at all today for that use case.
sergers 7y ago
I don't think it does... Waymo is on its way to doing it in phoenix