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I wonder if the cleanliness will be maintained over time? Presumably this requires humans to physically clean periodically, and it seems like this would suffer

I wonder if the cleanliness will be maintained over time? Presumably this requires humans to physically clean periodically, and it seems like this would suffer when the company starts to squeeze costs to improve margins.

CobrastanJorji 2y ago
I imagine the cars all head to some centralized location for cleaning and whatever other maintenance. That probably makes cleaning a very economic, factory-like procedure. Beats something like Uber where drivers have to bring their cars to a car wash or whatever (although presumably the Uber drivers aren't being paid to wash the cars because they aren't employees, so the unpaid labor there gives Uber an advantage).
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
majormajor 2y ago
The biggest problem with cleaning is that compared to Uber where there's a human driver, the autonomy factor will almost certainly lead to more people fucking shit up simply because they can. Look at anything else that goes unattended in the public way: ebikes, delivery bot things, scooters... nasty combo of "I want to fuck with The Man" and "haha nobody is here watching I don't need to be as careful with my messy sandwich"
- Rebelgecko 2y ago
  Waymos do have interior cameras, so if you puke in the backseat you can't blame it on the previous rider
- foota 2y ago
  It's probably a little bit better since a car is a closed environment. That won't save it entirely, but it'll at least mitigate the issue I expect as compared to e.g., a public bus.
- meowkit 2y ago
  Thats silly. The cars are private property and full of cameras being monitored by a tech giant. I’m sure the account agreement is going to require you to to accept being charged egregious bills for damaging or dirty-ing the cabin
  - jfengel 2y ago
    It is indeed silly. And yet every taxi driver has plenty of horror stories, and that's with a human sitting there.
    - hilbertseries 2y ago
      Taxis have basically no recourse if you just ditch. Waymo has a video of you, your full name, your billing address and your credit card on file.
      - ModernMech 2y ago
        So do hotels, I guess that’s why no hotel room has ever been trashed.
        Anotheroneagain 2y ago
        I guess that's why no hotel lets you pay cash.
        gambiting 2y ago
        What? Plenty of hotels let you pay cash. Or is that sarcasm?
        vkou 2y ago
        They'll accept cash if you fork out a $300 deposit, and the people who are likely to both pay cash and trash a room rarely have that much extra money on hand. A friend of mine works night audit in a rough part of the valley. As soon as he says the magic words 'we require a major credit card or a $300 deposit', they immediately hang up.
- Zenzero 2y ago
  That's my biggest concern too. My fear is in 20 years nobody will be excited to go in these because the interiors will be whittled down to dilapidated NY subway seats.
  - aeyes 2y ago
    Once these become more common I am sure they'll adapt the interior to be more similar to the subway (plastic seats, no carpet, hard plastic everywhere) instead of having luxury car seats.
- TulliusCicero 2y ago
  You need an account, probably with a credit card, if you're gonna ride. If you intentionally mess up the car, you'll probably just get banned from the service.
- dilyevsky 2y ago
  1. The cars are not unattended 2. Public transit and the like get rekt because they are cheap and there is no consequences whatsoever. When you get $400 full detail bill like they do for rentals and/or get banned for life (even as a +1 because they have your face) that tends to have a chilling effect
dyauspitr 2y ago
Every rider’s identity is known. That’s going to play a huge role in how people treat them.
gnicholas 2y ago
I wonder if they'd ever offer riders a discount for taking trash out that was left behind by other riders. They could even include a vacuum and give people a couple bucks off for cleaning it out during/after their ride.
gumby 2y ago
I think eventually they’ll just make a car (like Zooks is) without all the messy crud (steering wheel etc) and with fixed, waterproof seats and such. It will be designed for automatic cleaned by driving into a depot and being hosed down. Think of those self-cleaning toilets.
- qingcharles 2y ago
  Right. This is a prototype. You've got a whole empty seat not being used, and a steering wheel sat there baiting someone to play with it. The vehicle was never designed for the purpose for which it is being used. I totally agree we will start to see very specific driverless designs that are very easy to clean. Either that, or Johnny Cabs. I'm easy.
- qingcharles 2y ago
  https://www.reddit.com/r/SelfDrivingCars/comments/1dolh8l/verne_project_3_mobility_leaked_pics/ https://www.reddit.com/r/SelfDrivingCars/comments/1dolh8l/ve...
- dgoldstein0 2y ago
  The nhtsa used to require all vehicles have steering wheels. Looks like that rule changed in March 2022 for autonomous vehicles so we should so start seeing those. I guess it just takes a while for new autonomous vehicles to be designed and built to take advantage of the change in rules.
hi_hi 2y ago
Let me introduce you to WayGlo. They pivot to automated car cleaners...
Animats 2y ago
> Presumably this requires humans to physically clean periodically. That's a good robotics project. All the cars are the same. The cars do not have any objects inside that belong to the occupants and should stay. So robotic interior vacuuming could be quite practical, as a station in the car wash. A vision system can inspect for damage and route that car to the maintenance line.

CobrastanJorji 2y ago

I imagine the cars all head to some centralized location for cleaning and whatever other maintenance. That probably makes cleaning a very economic, factory-like procedure. Beats something like Uber where drivers have to bring their cars to a car wash or whatever (although presumably the Uber drivers aren't being paid to wash the cars because they aren't employees, so the unpaid labor there gives Uber an advantage).

deleted 2y ago
[deleted]

majormajor 2y ago

The biggest problem with cleaning is that compared to Uber where there's a human driver, the autonomy factor will almost certainly lead to more people fucking shit up simply because they can. Look at anything else that goes unattended in the public way: ebikes, delivery bot things, scooters... nasty combo of "I want to fuck with The Man" and "haha nobody is here watching I don't need to be as careful with my messy sandwich"

Rebelgecko 2y ago
Waymos do have interior cameras, so if you puke in the backseat you can't blame it on the previous rider
foota 2y ago
It's probably a little bit better since a car is a closed environment. That won't save it entirely, but it'll at least mitigate the issue I expect as compared to e.g., a public bus.
meowkit 2y ago
Thats silly. The cars are private property and full of cameras being monitored by a tech giant. I’m sure the account agreement is going to require you to to accept being charged egregious bills for damaging or dirty-ing the cabin
- jfengel 2y ago
  It is indeed silly. And yet every taxi driver has plenty of horror stories, and that's with a human sitting there.
  - hilbertseries 2y ago
    Taxis have basically no recourse if you just ditch. Waymo has a video of you, your full name, your billing address and your credit card on file.
    - ModernMech 2y ago
      So do hotels, I guess that’s why no hotel room has ever been trashed.
      - Anotheroneagain 2y ago
        I guess that's why no hotel lets you pay cash.
        gambiting 2y ago
        What? Plenty of hotels let you pay cash. Or is that sarcasm?
        vkou 2y ago
        They'll accept cash if you fork out a $300 deposit, and the people who are likely to both pay cash and trash a room rarely have that much extra money on hand. A friend of mine works night audit in a rough part of the valley. As soon as he says the magic words 'we require a major credit card or a $300 deposit', they immediately hang up.
Zenzero 2y ago
That's my biggest concern too. My fear is in 20 years nobody will be excited to go in these because the interiors will be whittled down to dilapidated NY subway seats.
- aeyes 2y ago
  Once these become more common I am sure they'll adapt the interior to be more similar to the subway (plastic seats, no carpet, hard plastic everywhere) instead of having luxury car seats.
TulliusCicero 2y ago
You need an account, probably with a credit card, if you're gonna ride. If you intentionally mess up the car, you'll probably just get banned from the service.
dilyevsky 2y ago
1. The cars are not unattended 2. Public transit and the like get rekt because they are cheap and there is no consequences whatsoever. When you get $400 full detail bill like they do for rentals and/or get banned for life (even as a +1 because they have your face) that tends to have a chilling effect

dyauspitr 2y ago

Every rider’s identity is known. That’s going to play a huge role in how people treat them.

gnicholas 2y ago

I wonder if they'd ever offer riders a discount for taking trash out that was left behind by other riders. They could even include a vacuum and give people a couple bucks off for cleaning it out during/after their ride.

gumby 2y ago

I think eventually they’ll just make a car (like Zooks is) without all the messy crud (steering wheel etc) and with fixed, waterproof seats and such. It will be designed for automatic cleaned by driving into a depot and being hosed down. Think of those self-cleaning toilets.

qingcharles 2y ago
Right. This is a prototype. You've got a whole empty seat not being used, and a steering wheel sat there baiting someone to play with it. The vehicle was never designed for the purpose for which it is being used. I totally agree we will start to see very specific driverless designs that are very easy to clean. Either that, or Johnny Cabs. I'm easy.
qingcharles 2y ago
https://www.reddit.com/r/SelfDrivingCars/comments/1dolh8l/verne_project_3_mobility_leaked_pics/ https://www.reddit.com/r/SelfDrivingCars/comments/1dolh8l/ve...
dgoldstein0 2y ago
The nhtsa used to require all vehicles have steering wheels. Looks like that rule changed in March 2022 for autonomous vehicles so we should so start seeing those. I guess it just takes a while for new autonomous vehicles to be designed and built to take advantage of the change in rules.

hi_hi 2y ago

Let me introduce you to WayGlo. They pivot to automated car cleaners...

Animats 2y ago

> Presumably this requires humans to physically clean periodically. That's a good robotics project. All the cars are the same. The cars do not have any objects inside that belong to the occupants and should stay. So robotic interior vacuuming could be quite practical, as a station in the car wash. A vision system can inspect for damage and route that car to the maintenance line.