Waymo now testing its self-driving cars on public roads with no one at the wheel

Re:Waymo now testing its self-driving cars on public roads w... by zjaffee on Tuesday November 07, 2017 @01:10PM (#15645854)

Car pool lanes will likely be a big reason people choose to pool in autonomous cars. I imagine that self driving cars will make traffic much worse, and we will see a movement where cities create more and more HOV lanes to reduce traffic in such situations.

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Re:Waymo now testing its self-driving cars on public roads w... by pmoriarty on Tuesday November 07, 2017 @01:33PM (#15646103)

"I imagine that self driving cars will make traffic much worse"

With fewer accidents causing traffic jams it could be much better. Eventually many autonomous cars will probably network with one another to create an optimal traffic pattern as well.

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Re:Waymo now testing its self-driving cars on public roads w... by nroets on Tuesday November 07, 2017 @02:20PM (#15646573)

Self driving (and taxis) cars can reduce traffic, because commuters can combine them with mass transit (e.g. trains).

If a commuter travels more than 2 legs in a day, it's very likely that mass transit will not cover one of the legs and he will take his car.

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Re:Waymo now testing its self-driving cars on public roads w... by smileysteve on Tuesday November 07, 2017 @02:28PM (#15646656)

Yeah... I've been trying to do this and laughed at by my drivers (when it's them that are taking a long time to make it to the station).

in ATLanta

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Re:Waymo now testing its self-driving cars on public roads w... by rrhd on Tuesday November 07, 2017 @06:30PM (#15648717)

why would people do that when they don't already carpool or take a bus?

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Re:Waymo now testing its self-driving cars on public roads w... by JumpCrisscross on Tuesday November 07, 2017 @07:32PM (#15649076)

If I could press a button and have a car pick me up, take me to the train station, get on a train, and have a car waiting on the other side I'd choose that over the present litany of call a car, hope it arrives in time, get on the train, arrive at the station, wait around for a car. Many times I'm just too tired (or lazy) to do that, and call a car for the whole journey instead.

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Re:Waymo now testing its self-driving cars on public roads w... by rorykoehler on Tuesday November 07, 2017 @07:59PM (#15649181)

Same reason people who didn't take taxis take Uber.

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Re:Waymo now testing its self-driving cars on public roads w... by vkou on Tuesday November 07, 2017 @05:05PM (#15648097)

There's a radical idea that could be looked into - have a very large autonomous car, carrying 20-100 people. With enough of them, we could reduce traffic, save money (Compared to the cost of private vehicle ownership) - and the best part is, from the perspective of the riders, it will be self-driving.

Why should we invest into self-driving carpools, when buses are cheaper, and more efficient?

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Re:Waymo now testing its self-driving cars on public roads w... by cjalmeida on Wednesday November 08, 2017 @05:19AM (#15651082)

Fixed routes and last mile. Buses are particularly poor on that.

I'm thinking on mini buses, 10 to 20 pax, with flexible dispatching. A service where you tell where you live, where you want to get to every workday at what time. Algorithms pool people and make sure you don't have to walk more than a few minutes. Nor wait for long before journey or arrive too early.

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Re:Waymo now testing its self-driving cars on public roads w... by vkou on Wednesday November 08, 2017 @01:19PM (#15655240)

Buses have poor last-mile economics because the overwhelming majority of commuters drive, killing any hope for economies of scale. If there were fewer cars on the road, bus coverage would be much better then what you're used to. (If we were to use 20-person mini-buses.)

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Re:Waymo now testing its self-driving cars on public roads w... by rrhd on Tuesday November 07, 2017 @06:33PM (#15648742)

I think you just invented the bus.

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Re:Waymo now testing its self-driving cars on public roads w... by sudhirj on Tuesday November 07, 2017 @01:54PM (#15646325)

Over a short term, yes, but there's likely to be work done on co-operation + communication standards between autocars. If a cars at an intersection are all auto, a quick Raft election can decide who goes first, so they'll all get to go through much faster. Broadcasting intention can also help with overtaking, trailing, etc. And if road train standards get built in they can all run much faster and more efficiently on highways as well.

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Re:Waymo now testing its self-driving cars on public roads w... by potatolicious on Tuesday November 07, 2017 @04:53PM (#15648010)

> "If a cars at an intersection are all auto"

... and the roadway is not used/intersected by cyclists, pedestrians, or anything that isn't an autonomous vehicle...

I think this stuff is super promising, but it alarms me how often we forget that streets are used by more than motor vehicles. The fact that roads are used by a mixture of users is a feature, not a bug.

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Re:Waymo now testing its self-driving cars on public roads w... by r00fus on Tuesday November 07, 2017 @03:00PM (#15646966)

You're assuming all cars will be automatic or somehow able to communicate with each other?

How does a circa 2010 human driven car in this scenario complicate or invalidate your routing algorithm proposal?

Would human driven cars need to be outlawed in order to get the efficiency gains you mention?

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