My takeaway is that there is a big reason that the "robotaxi" is still on the leaderboard of VC investment plays.

I'm surprised that Uber/Lyft never tried lowtech self driving: basically have drone operators guide the cars when they are not in use, and then just monitor/track the drivers when they use them.

Then a "sweeper crew" can handle the outliers/stranded cars.

Basically the scooter model but with cars.