Latest news with #Waymos
Time of India
18 hours ago
- Lifestyle
- Time of India
Why residents of Google's home city are 'upset' with its driverless cars
Residents of Santa Monica , California are reportedly upset and protesting the frequent noise-pollution from Google-backed Waymo driverless cars . While the driverless electric cars with rotating sensors first seemed like a novelty, some residents are now complaining that the charging stations make constant noise. 'To hear it from residents, the beeping never seems to stop, largely due to a state regulation requiring electric vehicles to audibly reverse like delivery trucks,' the LA Times reported. 'They beep as they back out of charging spots, and beep as they reverse to navigate around each other. They beep in the morning as they head out to pick up early passengers, and beep late at night as they return to charge up,' it added. California residents 'fed up' with Waymo As per the report, residents are fed up to the extent that they are protesting against driver-less cars. 'City officials, a judge and even police have been forced to intercede after residents who say the self-driving cars are a nuisance have banded together against the local 56-vehicle fleet. They've reached out to the city. They've called Waymo. Now, some are trying unconventional tactics,' the report stated. It further added, 'Using cones, cars and sometimes themselves, residents have taken to blocking the Waymos from entering their company-funded parking lot, so much so that the company has called the cops on them a half dozen times.' A local resident named Darius Boorn told the publication: 'I want the noise stopped. I thought it was cool, and then those freaking noises started. And then I thought, 'Oh no, this can't be happening.'' What Waymo said In a statement to LA Times, a Waymo spokesperson said that the company 'will continue to learn and improve how we introduce ourselves to new communities when we arrive.' 'We strive to be good neighbors in the cities that we operate, and are committed to being a positive presence in Santa Monica. We are in ongoing conversation with the City's Department of Transportation, and are actively working with the agency as we explore and implement mitigations that address neighbors' concerns,' another spokesperson told Fox Business. Scam Series: The "Meme Malware" WhatsApp Scam AI Masterclass for Students. Upskill Young Ones Today!– Join Now
Miami Herald
2 days ago
- Automotive
- Miami Herald
Waymo Vehicles Ignite Protests Amid Public Disturbance Concerns
Santa Monica, California, residents have been up in arms over the beeping noises at various hours of the day and night from a Waymo-funded parking lot in the area. The 56-vehicle autonomous rideshare fleet, which uses a Santa Monica lot as a charging base, frequently beeps due to a state regulation requiring electric cars to make noise when backing up. Santa Monica officials only learned about Waymo's presence in the lot after receiving resident complaints. Anuj Gupta, Santa Monica's director of transit services, wrote to Waymo's city policy and government affairs manager in a Feb. 11 email: "What particularly surprised and concerned us is that this site had never come up as a Waymo hub or parking/charging location on any of our previous check-in calls-yet there is clearly a substantial Waymo operation occurring out of these lots that is drawing concern," according to The Los Angeles Times. However, Lauren Howland, a city spokesperson, added: "They [Waymo] were not obligated to tell us since they're renting it [the lot] from a third party." City staff also said that noise recently measured from Waymo's site was within city noise limits. Waymo opened up two charging stations for over 50 company cars in January. Santa Monica locals have tried blocking the Waymos from entering their company lot using cones, cars, and themselves. A strategy that Santa Monica residents call "stacking the Waymos" involves people sauntering in the vehicle's path to create a backup of the cars. One local practiced Waymo stacking so frequently that the company called the police on him six times and unsuccessfully tried to get a temporary restraining order, The Los Angeles Times reports. Waymo responded to Santa Monica residents' complaints by saying it: "Will continue to learn and improve how we introduce ourselves to new communities when we arrive." While beeping is cited as the primary noise concern, Waymo has taken steps to reduce noise from its parking lots, including buying quieter vacuums for cleaning the vehicles and banning vacuuming from 9:00 pm to 7:00 am, installing bamboo stands to absorb noise, lowering employee working hours within lots, and limiting speed in alleyways to 10 mph. Waymo opened its Waymo One autonomous rideshare service to anyone in Los Angeles in November 2024. For the most part, Waymo is considered the world's leader in autonomous ridesharing, with several U.S. operation areas, near-future plans to expand internationally, and a quality safety record. Reported issues associated with the fleet, like traffic blockages, tend to be limited relative to how many miles the company logs daily. Compared to human drivers over 56.7 million miles, Waymo had 92% fewer pedestrian crashes and 82% fewer cyclist and motorcycle crashes. Still, chronic noise complaints like the ones from Santa Monica residents are a problem Waymo needs to solve sooner rather than later if it wants to maintain its reputation, especially with how quickly people criticize self-driving tech. Copyright 2025 The Arena Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Boston Globe
5 days ago
- Automotive
- Boston Globe
Yo, robot: A word or two from Boston humans about self-driving taxis
The parochialism of my fellow Bostonians can be embarrassing sometimes. I've used Waymos in LA — hardly a paradise for drivers — and they did an incredible job. Not once did my Waymo sit at a green light because it was busy looking at its phone. (E Zola) The only thing worse than a Boston driver is a Boston pedestrian. You will realize this by visiting other cities where drivers and pedestrians actually obey rules and laws. Having computers guiding cars can only be an improvement. (NicksterNH) Get The Gavel A weekly SCOTUS explainer newsletter by columnist Kimberly Atkins Stohr. Enter Email Sign Up How can they be programmed to know that using your blinker is a sign of weakness? (mrdman850) Advertisement I don't think they will do well in Boston when traffic is heavy because they have a hard time merging into traffic. I have used Waymo a few times in both LA and San Francisco. When humans are trying to pull into the traffic lane from the side of the road there, a decent person will eventually give way and let the car in. I noticed in California that drivers are less likely to yield to a car with no driver. At one point I sat in a car for 15 minutes as it tried to merge, and I eventually got out and called an Uber. (Tim_Hill) Advertisement Years ago when my wife and I moved from Texas, where the road signs read, 'Drive Friendly,' to the city of Boston, where there is no such thing, we were rudely welcomed with many car horns for our ineptitude, particularly if we were first in line at an intersection and wanted to turn left but failed to bolt when the light turned green. We eventually learned, but only after months of cowardice. (MisterEd47) Welcome to the definition of 3 milliseconds: the time from when the light turns green until someone honks at you. (user_1127668) AI is coming for the human race. Make no mistake about it. In 100 years the human, as we know it today, will be extinct. (dewitt clinton)
USA Today
17-05-2025
- Automotive
- USA Today
Seeking solitude and safety, riders flock to robotaxis driven by computers
Seeking solitude and safety, riders flock to robotaxis driven by computers Show Caption Hide Caption Self-driving taxis coming to Atlanta Lyft is partnering with May Mobility to bring a fleet of self-driving Toyota minivans to Atlanta starting this summer, according to Lyft. Fox - 5 Atlanta One constant among the women USA TODAY spoke with who routinely ride in Waymos is the notion of safety and the lack of real or potential harassment. Meanwhile, other riders seek out driverless taxis because they believe computers are better drivers than human beings. However, the rollout of driverless taxis has been riddled with controversy, including fears of clogged streets and confused cars wandering into fire zones and crime scenes. SAN FRANCISCO – Taxis without drivers. The concept has sparked controversy, unease, amazement and confusion. But a surge in ridership shows that many people prefer being driven by a computer rather than a person. For Tienna Perez-Close, it's knowing she can get into a car and the driver won't be weird or invasive. For Leila Minowada, it's a safe, ultra-smooth ride that never makes her nauseous. For Lee Rogers, who's legally blind, it was the independence of being alone in a car for the first time in her life. And for Jay Hack, it's the chance to live for a moment in a future he's eagerly awaiting. Each of these riders are among the more than 250,000 people per week who climb into driverless robo-taxis from Waymo for rides in Austin, Phoenix, Los Angeles, parts of Silicon Valley and all of San Francisco. They're expected to start in Atlanta, Miami and Washington D.C. in 2026. The rollout has been riddled with controversy, including unnatural driving behaviors, safety concerns, fears of clogged streets and confused cars wandering into fire zones and crime scenes. But 16 years after the first driverless taxis were tested in California, they now calmly wander up the steepest San Francisco byways (though Lombard Street is rarely a most efficient route, Waymo notes), thread their way through construction, traffic and bike lanes, dropping off and picking up passengers along the way. Their quiet electric hum (all are EVs) has become a new part of the city's soundscape. Spend an evening out in popular nightlife areas like the Mission District, Hayes Valley or the Marina, and the constant stream of Waymos (owned by Google's parent company) dropping people off or picking them up can outnumber the Ubers and Lyfts. No driver gives some riders 'peace of mind' One constant among the women USA TODAY spoke with who routinely ride in Waymos is the notion of safety and the lack of real or potential harassment. 'It's peace of mind,' said Perez-Close, who frequently takes Waymos to her job at the hospital in the early morning hours. 'I don't know a woman who hasn't had an awkward Uber or Lyft," she said. The kind where they text their friends "'Hey, I'm in an Uber, here's a link to my ride. If I don't text you when I get home….'' "We just don't do that in Waymos,' she said. Rogers says as thankful as she is for taxis, Ubers and Lyfts, 'there is still the factor that I have to depend that the driver will get me to a place safely.' With a Waymo, 'I don't have to depend on someone – it's just a vehicle.' Meanwhile, other riders seek out driverless taxis because they believe computers are better drivers than human beings. 'I trust the computer and the algorithms and the training – it's got way more training than any human driver does,' said Tanya Shadoan, a 58-year-old San Franciscan. Statistics bear this out. A study released in December by Swiss Re, a large insurance provider, found Waymos significantly safer than human-piloted cars. According to the paper, in 25.3 million miles driven, Waymos were involved in nine property damage claims and two bodily injury claims (both of which are still open) For the same number of miles, human-driven vehicles could be expected to have 78 property damage and 26 bodily injury claims. Part of this is, of course, that for now robotaxis only drive in very specific, carefully chosen spaces. They don't take passengers on freeways yet and all companies using the technology spend years mapping and testing roadways, first with human drivers who can take over at any moment. Hack believes the technology is getting close to the point that it will always safer than humans. And when that happens, he sees a definite choice to be made. 'The moment that self-driving cars are the same cost, and killing an order of magnitude fewer people, then it's a moral imperative,' he said. Updates are frequent. On May 14, Waymo said it had updated the software on more than 1,200 of its self-driving vehicles to address risks of collisions with chains, gates and other roadway barriers. Downsides and upsides There are definite downsides, say frequent users. In general, Waymos cost more than Ubers, Lyfts or taxis, though it can depend on time of day and whether there are any specials running. 'Though of course you don't have to tip,' said Andrew Dillon, a professor of user experience at the University of Texas, Austin. That also relieves one of the annoyances of taxis and ride-hailing companies. 'Tipping,' Dillon said, 'is a high pressure situation.' Waymos also sometimes require require a longer wait, because as many Waymos as there are, there are fewer of them than other ride-hailing options. Hack says he typically decides what to take depending on timing. If a Waymo is only a few minutes more, he'll opt for that. 'But if it's 15 minutes more than an Uber, then it's not worth it. On the other hand, they're often smoother than human-driven cars. Autonomous vehicles are designed to travel a little more cautiously and conservatively, which can make them less erratic than human-driven cars, said Susan Shaheen, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of California Berkeley who's been studying self-driving cars for 30 years. For those prone to carsickness the smoothness of the ride can be a major plus. 'Especially at night in an Uber when I can't see where we're going, the acceleration and stopping and starting can make me nauseous,' said Minowada, a former San Franciscan who's now studying in Japan. A more meta concern is what the rise in self-driving cars might mean for transportation as a whole. 'There are competing narratives about the future of mobility,' said Jason Mark Henderson, a professor of geography and environment at San Francisco State University. Will robotaxis cut into public transit, much as ride-hailing services did? Would things be different if they were publicly owned rather than private? Will there be haves, who can afford to pay for a robotaxi and have-nots who are left with the bus? And what will become of the more than one million Uber and Lyft drivers in the United States if they are no longer needed? 'We're at this moment when there's a fusion of Silicon Valley technology and mobility – which at the moment is extremely profitable,' Henderson said. 'It's a very urban, upper-income subset.' Could this be the future? Letting a computerized brain drive you around town becomes a non-issue so quickly even riders are surprised. 'It felt weird for like a minute when I first got into the car,' said Minowada, 25. 'Then I stopped thinking about it and I never thought about it again." Researchers studying how people interact with self-driving cars say this is actually a very common reaction. In 50 years, said Dillon, we could wonder why people persisted in driving themselves for so long. 'We may well look back at this period of history where car ownership was the norm, as an anomaly, a strange interlude in human history,' he said. Well on their way to being safer, self-driving vehicles, with their ability to coordinate and behave efficiently, could also make for much less congested roads. How they would do that is obvious any time you're waiting at a stoplight, said Dillon. 'The light goes green and notice how long it takes drivers to coordinate and move the traffic forward," he said. "If we had a networked system where control as taken away from humans, it would be much more efficient.' For now, acceptance is a state-by-state and sometimes city-by-city proposition. Minowada remembers it took her a while to start riding in Waymos, and only after the people around her started taking them. Faster than she would have thought possible, she was on the inside, looking out. 'I've been in Waymos now,' she said 'and had tourists taking pictures of me.'
Miami Herald
10-05-2025
- Automotive
- Miami Herald
Analysts reboot Uber stock price targets after earnings
Dara Khosrowshahi can't afford to slow down. The Uber (UBER) CEO told analysts during the ride-hailing company's first-quarter earnings call that the competition was coming on strong. Don't miss the move: Subscribe to TheStreet's free daily newsletter "We can't rest for a second," he said. "And because of our global position and because of the unique platform that we have, we think we can hold our own and then some." The San Francisco company beat Wall Street's earnings expectations but missed forecasts for revenue. Uber's stock has climbed 37% since January and is up 22% from a year ago. Related: Uber takes aim at Tesla with its newest plan "We're off to a strong start this year against the dizzying backdrop of headlines on trade and economic policy," Khosrowshahi said. "Each component of our multiyear growth framework is humming." Part of the growth includes expanded use of autonomous vehicles. Khosrowshahi said, noting that Uber has put roughly 100 of Alphabet's (GOOGL) Waymo robotaxis on the streets of Austin."Obviously, Waymo has a safety track record second to none," he said. "Consumers are loving the product. The team on the ground is doing a terrific job in terms of repairs and cleaning and recharging the cars, etc., to make sure that the Waymos are available for rides." "And then when the Waymos are available for rides, they are very, very busy," said Khosrowshahi, noting that the average Waymo vehicle in Austin is "busier than 99%" of human-driven vehicles in the Texas capital. More Tech Stocks: Amazon makes move that the White House hates, then walks it backAnalyst reboots Apple stock price target ahead of earningsControversial EV tax credits will be bad news for Tesla "We're super excited for expansion in Atlanta as well as some of the other [autonomous vehicle] announcements that we've made and the expansion that we see both in the U. S. and especially outside the U.S. as well," he said. Uber is beefing up its partnership with Chinese autonomous vehicle company WeRide, saying it will expand to 15 cities over the next five years, including some in Europe as well as the U.S. Meanwhile, Waymo and Toyota recently unveiled a collaboration on autonomous-driving technology. The companies will work on a new platform designed for personally owned autonomous vehicles. "That's just indicative we think of where AV is going, which is you've got: pure-play software developers increasingly offering more sophisticated AV platforms to the [original-equipment manufacturers] around the world," said Khosrowshahi. It's a world, he said, "in which 10 years from now every single new car sold comes with Level Four, Level Five AV," two of the higher levels of autonomous driving. Uber recently told employees that starting in June, they'll need to come to the office three days a week, up from two. The order included some staffers who had been approved for remote work. Last year, Khosrowshahi blamed remote work for the loss of its most loyal customers, who would take ride-sharing as their commutes to work. Several investment firms published research reports following Uber's earnings release. Wedbush downgraded Uber to neutral from outperform with a price target of $85, up from $80. The company reported "mixed" first-quarter results with "healthy guidance" for Q2, the investment firm said. Shares of Uber have appreciated considerably over the past few years as the business model recovered post-pandemic, Wedbush said. Notably, in recent periods, the investment firm said, "the magnitude of beats versus estimates has contracted materially as performance has caught up to investor expectations." "We recognize that Uber's management team has demonstrated a successful track record of execution across key initiatives to drive growth during this period," Wedbush said. But "the business is now well understood, and the lack of clear catalysts in the near term will limit upside to expectations in the current environment ... curbing further multiple expansion." Related: Hedge fund veteran sends strong message about marijuana stocks Citi raised its price target on Uber to $102 from $92 and affirmed a buy rating on the shares following the Q1 report. Uber's core Delivery and Mobility services "continue to deliver impressive results," the analyst tells investors in a research note. The investment firm sees multiple mobility initiatives that should deliver continued higher bookings, and points to expansion in suburbs, reserve and taxi. Uber is well positioned to provide distribution and utilization benefits across multiple autonomous-vehicle networks going forward, Citi contends. RBC Capital analyst Brad Erickson raised the firm's price target on Uber to $94 from $82 and reiterated an outperform rating, according to TheFly.. The company had a strong Q1 print against a higher bar coming in, with durable customer and frequency growth continuing and Uber finding numerous opportunities to drive incremental demand and higher frequency, the analyst said. Pricing was steady with insurance inflation abating, and autonomous-vehicle commentary remains bullish with expanding partnerships and acceleration coming in its early markets, Erickson added. Related: Veteran fund manager who forecast S&P 500 crash unveils surprising update The Arena Media Brands, LLC THESTREET is a registered trademark of TheStreet, Inc.
