After years of seeing them cruising around, we finally tried it out.

We spent a day in a busy local downtown and decided to park our car in one garage and use this service to get to get around for a few of the stops that were a bit too far to walk (and it was cheaper than hopping garage to garage).

I'll admit, I got pretty nervous the first few minutes. Someone used to daily driving something like a FSD Tesla would feel right at home, but for me it felt alarming as the car zipped away on its own with no one at all in the drivers seat - especially in heavy traffic.

After spending some time in it though, I felt oddly at ease pretty quickly. There's something to be said about perfect predictability and the exact adherence to the laws. No unexpected manuevers, no harsh takeoffs, no sudden lane changes - just the exact same driving style every single mile in every single car.

One benefit I hadnt expected over something like an Uber - total control over the experience. You want it 68 degrees with some calm Jazz in the background - go for it. Maybe you'd prefer 82 with some EDM cranked up - sure, just type it in on the screen. They use some kind of streaming service to give you plenty of audio variety.

It's not totally without its quirks though:
-There are some places where a little human intuition wouldve helped smooth things out. We had a couple cases where the path forward wasnt obvious- mainly construction areas with no lane lines and just a few poorly placed cones to direct traffic. It always made it through, but was very hesitant and took a few pauses to process - usually at the frustration of drivers behind.

-It almost feels overly safe. It's odd seeing 98% of traffic blast by you because you're driving the actual speed limit. It also had to take a longer route one time because it signaled for a full mile to get across 3 lanes to make a turn and people flat out refused to let it over (as it's not aggressive enough to just force its way in). So it ended up taking a detour to loop back around to make the turn from the other direction.

All in all a great experience though. By the end I felt more at ease than with most Ubers Ive taken (literally 100s, including in several other countries). I dont normally have much need for them locally, but Id likely pick this over an Uber if given the option on a trip somewhere else.

The biggest thing for me was really just the awe of the whole thing. I remember growing up watching movies like Total Recall and seeing stuff like the Johnny Cab. Thought it was neat, but figured it would just be sci fi make believe just like traveling to Mars, at least for my lifetime. Yet here I am cruising around one in the real world - truly amazing how far tech has come. Although I will say, it would be absolutely epic if someone licensed the Total Recall rights to make a real Johnny Cab - that would be a blast in a place like Vegas.

 

I don't believe Waymo is used in Ohio, but I heard of it. And I related it to Johnny Cab! It was over a year ago where a friend of mine said she had used one on facebook and I blew my mind! Sure, I knew about the self-driving features like what Tesla offers, but it always required an alert driver. This HAS no driver!
I've heard more good than bad about it. Very wild. I have yet to experience one, but I am sure my time will come. I see this eventually messing with Uber and Lyft drivers. Just as an example, my GF is visually impaired. She read about another blind person's experience with Waymo. That person talked about how good it was.
- Uber and Lyft drivers will deny allowing guide dogs (despite it being illegal to do). Waymo, never had a thing to say on the topic.
- Not having to be concerned with the hygiene of the driver.
- Understanding the language of the driver.
Just a few items.

 

I totally agree. Although to be fair, it's not much different than how Uber / Lyft decimated the taxi cab industry in most major metro areas a decade or so ago.

Will be interesting to see how the balance between the 3 plays out - especially as these fully autonomous services start to multiply (like Zoox in Vegas).

Interesting- never knew that about Uber. I do think there are some niches like that where these fully autonomous deals can win market share.

Another big one seems to be kids - Waymo now allows kids 14-17 to ride alone with a special account - I could see a lot of parents using that to get kids to/from school on days they simply cant make it - something that would be unheard of with Uber / a total stranger driving.

Those are definitely good points.

My biggest complaint with Uber (and even taxis) is how poorly the average person drives, especially someone that's doing it for hours and hours on end (and folks doing it for a side job after working a full shift at a day job). That's made even worse by folks running dual or triple apps between the services / using their phone while driving.

Ive been lucky enough never to have had an accident, but Ive had probably a dozen VERY close calls.

Once recently, I even asked the Uber driver to slow down (crazy coming from me) - but this lady was literally doing 87 in a construction zone 55 - actually criminal amounts of speed with my family inside. There's absolutely no reason for driving like that.

So to me, it was refreshing to ride in something with robotic levels of precision and consistency.