Are robotaxis the future? Or instead, the past?
Are robotaxis the future? Or instead, the past?
Waymo is fortunate to have a better reputation than the rest, but their incident rate is still not acceptable…
SF Chronicle reports that San Francisco Mayor Lurie has finally realized that Waymo robotaxis are only half baked and absolutely cannot handle large events and other complicated situations.
FastCompany reports that cities need to be able restrict robotaxis from areas where there are large events. Otherwise they tend to consistently cause havoc.
Well, well, well. Appears that the divorce between Waymo and Uber is now official. Though it must be said that Waymo was indeed the cause of a great deal of the congestion. Of course the real root of the problem is that some idiot decided to move the 4th of July fireworks to the Golden Gate Bridge where there is far more limited road and transit access. Plus far too many people decided to take cars, including Ubers.
Not only is Uber divorcing Waymo but they are also trying to sabotage robotaxis in general.
SF Standard reports that Waymos interfering with emergency responders continues to be completely out of hand. The examples are shocking.
SF Chronicle reports that a couple of wayward teens managed to ride in a Waymo unaccompanied, which is not legal in California. Drinking, shooting of projectiles, and general hilarity ensued.
SF Standard reports on how once again Waymo vehicles are incompetent at driving and cause complete traffic chaos.
TechCrunch reports that the marriage between Waymo and Uber was really just one of temporary convenience.
Once again Waymo allows unattended kids to ride in a Waymo, in violation of California law. And rather shocking they did not stop the ride when they knew the kids were acting dangerously.
New York Times reports on how Waymo robotaxis won't be on the streets of some major cities, including New York, within the foreseeable future. Turns out there are lots of issues.
SF Chronicle reports that Waymos aren't content to have seriously injured a bicyclist in San Francisco due to not following the traffic laws. Now they appear to park in bike lanes in a regular basis.
SF Standard reports on yet more problems that Waymos are causing in San Francisco. Now they are clogging up residential parking garages as well.
StreetsBlog USA covers a report that confirms that Waymos spend half their time empty, as in "zero occupancy vehicles", as in the absolute worst from a congestion and energy point of view.
CNN investigated the safety of Waymo robotaxis and found that while in some ways they drive more safely than humans, in other ways they introduce whole new safety problems.
SF Chronicle reports that there is a new use case for robotaxis: burglary! No driver to identify the perpetrator. Truly brilliant!
