
We finally talked to an actual Waymo passenger – here’s what he told us - votepaunchy
https://arstechnica.com/cars/2018/12/we-finally-talked-to-an-actual-waymo-passenger-heres-what-he-told-us/
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theptip
> Richardson has found Waymo's prices to be relatively expensive. Richardson
> said that he recently considered taking a Waymo ride that would have cost
> $14. "Lyft cost a dollar less for the same trip," he said. "Uber was two
> dollars less."

This seems like a very odd pricing decision by Waymo. Even if they are
subsidizing the cost of the rides, shouldn't they be cheaper than (or at least
on par with) their competitors? Especially given that it's an inferior service
right now?

Perhaps they are betting on having enough early adopter / fanboy users in
their closed beta that price is immaterial. Just seems surprising to me that
they aren't investing a little more in subsidies here.

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genericone
They want people who want to ride in driverless cars. At this stage, that is
the demographic that matters most. Price is a good way find people who see a
value in the trip being self-driving. The worst demographic they can find are
people whose main criteria are price, the benefits of self-driving vehicles
are not front and center in their minds.

~~~
theptip
> Price is a good way find people who see a value in the trip being self-
> driving. The worst demographic they can find are people whose main criteria
> are price

I think that's a better way of thinking about it than what I came up with.

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jve
> As our technology is new, we are going to be cautious because safety is our
> highest priority.

Good to hear that.

~~~
genericone
As the only 'true' player in the self driving arena right now, it's the
priority every other self driving company that exists would want Google to
have. After the media and PR fallout from Uber's screw-up, all involved
companies know whats at stake if safety is not #1. Preregulation. Regulation
before the identification of actual issues, regulation by politician's gut
feelings and uninformed public sentiment. That environment would stifle self
driving companies by a decade.

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Shivetya
so their solution is on rails without the rails. the difference being they
don't have the benefit of isolation from other traffic but they cannot
anywhere where they haven't effectively laid down rails (think rail shooter -
your path does not deviate and you only interact where allowed).

impressive in one regard but clearly shows how far they have to go.

