
AMA from Waymo self-driving car rider subscribed to service - lawrenceyan
https://www.reddit.com/r/SelfDrivingCars/comments/akv0y3/i_am_a_waymo_one_rider_ama/
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forgotmypw2
if someone could post some highlights, would really appreciate it. that site
is not usable on my phone

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partingshots
Some sample questions and answers:

> _Were there any rides in less than ideal conditions (rain, low visibility,
> night) ? How well did the AV drive under such conditions?_

Yes! New Year's Eve, a friend and I went and got dinner and it was raining
that night and the roads had a lot of puddles and could have been quite slick
as Phoenix roadways are not designed for rain. It managed driving it very well
and I'm not sure if it was the Waymo software or the Chrysler Pacifica's
software managing the ABS that you could tell engaged at one point.

Edit: I missed your comment about night. I would say a majority of my rides
are at night since that is when I run most of my errands (between 9p-12a) and
it handles that just fine. I look forward to the day I ride one through a dust
storm!

> _How far apart are the pickup / drop-off locations?

Does this inhibit the usability of the service overall, in comparison to
uber/lyft ?_

Generally I can have it pick me up and drop me off right where I need it to
be. There are some restrictions for drop off locations, but these are few and
far between and typically it is only a 50-100 foot walk. On only two occasions
did I have to walk 1000 or so feet and this was more due to there not being a
crosswalk nearby.

So far, this has not inhibited the use of the service for me, but there are
some locations on the map that I am sure would inhibit the service for a few
people. Even then, these are areas where I feel most people would not even
notice unless they studied the map like I have.

 _can you share screenshots of the map?_

This screenshot that was shared a month and a half ago is still accurate.

[https://twitter.com/binarybits/status/1073325751284453381?s=...](https://twitter.com/binarybits/status/1073325751284453381?s=21)

> _how long does the car wait for lane changes and left turn compared to the
> average human driver.

Does the car respond to other cars who are trying to change lanes by
activating their blinkers (does the car slow down in response for ex)_

Lane changes have improved and I have noticed that if there isn't another car
gaining in the lane or one is a short distance away, it changes lanes almost
immediately. If there is one behind it, sometimes it takes awhile. I have
noticed it will slow down and let the car pass to change lanes. As for left
turns, it is pretty quick at doing this - I would say the difference between a
human driver and the Waymo is negligible.

It will slow down if it notices another car changing lanes, but I haven't seen
it actually slow down for a car like a human might. However, it does have a
delay in when it turns the blinker on to change lanes and when it actually
executes the lane change, so if a car behind it makes a last second lane
change to go around it, it catches onto that.

> _Do you have any sense of how much they are growing / scaling?

On day to day driving / riding in the area, the frequency that you pass other
Waymos / see other Waymos. Does it seem like it has been stagnant or steadily
increasing?

Any sense of if they are adding more people to Waymo One currently? Any sense
of how capable they are of adding more?_

Based on anecdotal evidence, they seem to be growing, but I do not know this
with certainty. I have noticed that the pickup wait times are down from seven
to ten minutes to between four and six minutes. Based on this, I would assume
there are more vans on the road now. In relation to what I am seeing on the
road, I do feel like I see more of them on the road. You almost cannot miss
one if you are out on the road more than 5-10 minutes and I don't think this
would have been true a year ago. Also, when I visited the Waymo Depot (and
before it gets asked, I did not see the garage, I only saw the waiting room
and a meeting room), I saw a couple of vans parked on the outside without the
topper, indicating they are likely new.

I had a friend who signed up and did get an email back, but has not heard
anything since September 2018. This leads me to believe they are at capacity
for the time being, but having seen that picture where there were a lot of
them parked, I imagine they will be adding more riders soon.

