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Harry Campbell 🇺🇸
@TheRideshareGuy
I’ve been tracking prices for Waymo vs Uber/Lyft but the big thing that stood out to me on this ride was Waymo’s in-car travel time of 29 minutes - so what’s going on?!! 🚗 Uber: $28, ETA 2 mins, in-car travel time 14 mins 🚙 Lyft: $31, ETA 4 mins, in-car travel time 22 mins. 🤖 Waymo: $28, ETA 17 mins, in-car travel time 29 mins. Since Waymo doesn’t operate on freeways, any time the freeway is the fastest route, you lose a ton of time by opting for Waymo. No idea why Uber’s in-car estimate is so aggressive compared to Lyft but if we conservatively average the two, that is 18 minutes vs Waymo at 29 minutes. Not to mention the absurd 17 min ETA wait time for Waymo. I’m not convinced that once the novelty of Waymo wears off that passengers will be willing to wait longer for a ride that also takes longer. What do you think? This is just another reason why I think it makes sense for Waymo to partner with Uber. That way you can balance the ETA and domain of operation problems that Waymo is bound to face. P.S. – I’ll dive deeper into this topic and more in this week’s ‘Driverless Digest’ newsletter - subscribe below!
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David Watson 🥑
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Harry Campbell 🇺🇸
@TheRideshareGuy
A lot of folks are saying that as Waymo scales their fleet, the ETA issues will go away. But that is not going to happen since as they scale their fleet and improve/expand their domain of operation, it will actually induce more demand and they'll have the same ETA issues all over
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Josh Job 🌐🥑🔰🇺🇦🥥
@joshjob42
Personally I’m happy to pay somewhat more and wait and take longer tog et where I’m going for the joy of being alone and not having to deal with the cognitive load of a random person being able to watch and listen to me at all times and possibly trying to converse with me.
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Phil Walkability🇺🇸🦅🌲💙
@PhilSustainable
There’s fewer waymo vehicles on the road, so arrival time is going to be longer unless n empty waymo is nearby. A car share can over-optimistically suggest short arrival and travel times to encourage booking. Would be nice to compare estimated vs actual total travel times
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Cliff Banks
@Cliff_Banks
Intriguing data - I tracked my Waymo vs Uber costs over a 6-month period (50 rides vs 50 rides) on my trips to Scottsdale. $16+ for Waymo vs $28+ for Uber. Some thoughts: 1. Uber seems to agree with you that partnering with Waymo makes sense. 2. As you said, Waymo not yet
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Harry Campbell 🇺🇸
@TheRideshareGuy
interesting. Do you mind sharing the data? Those numbers could be reasonable if you tend to call during busy surge times as I think Uber surges a lot more than Waymo.
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Harry Campbell 🇺🇸
@TheRideshareGuy
Maybe Uber black but never uberx. Ubers number one KPI was always reliability and a 3 to 5 minute. ETA. The problem with a fixed fleet is that as demand scales, your ETA suffers unless you can tap into a variable supply like Uber.
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Jon Bryant
@JonBryant421
Wait time is a function of demand and size of fleet. Waymo will be on highways in the near future. Both complaints are temporary at best.
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Harry Campbell 🇺🇸
@TheRideshareGuy
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Harry Campbell 🇺🇸
@TheRideshareGuy
Replying to @binarybits and @joshjob42
but Tim, if they scale up to meet demand, that will only induce more demand and they will have the same wait time problem.
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Harry Campbell 🇺🇸
@TheRideshareGuy
Really? That's too long. I think 10-15 min is reasonable but the problem is that it varies from 2-20. Need to narrow the std deviation. I like the idea of setting your own eta or getting a couple options a la lyft. Who's a good pm we can tag?? :)
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Turner Novak 🍌🧢
@TurnerNovak
Waymo will still have tons of unsolved edge cases for years. Plenty of time for Uber (and specifically all others that will supply Uber) to catch up
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Dan Leveille
@danlev
I did some price comparison research too. Waymo is definitely cheaper. Didn’t test ride times or waits though.
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Dan Leveille
@danlev
I tested @Waymo, @Lyft and @Uber pricing in LA and here's what I found: #Waymo is the most cost-effective rideshare option, even when competing with Uber One and Lyft Pink's 5% discounted rides.
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Rex McArthur
@drexmcarthur
I use and choose Waymo every single time. After tip it’s cheaper. I can plan ahead and wait an extra 10 mins, and in LA traffic, highways are rarely faster anyway. I mostly stick to the west side regardless. 100% Waymo user no matter the price
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Streets r watching
@streetsdontplay
I keep trying to explain this to ppl & they don’t listen. There r dozens of split second decisions a human driver can & will make for a faster or safer route that a self driving car can’t. Ppl act like heavy traffic, accidents, road work & driving obstructions don’t exist.
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Jeff Carpenter
@jeffcarp
Waymo isn't at scale yet. Regardless the base Lyft/Uber product isn't the same quality level as Waymo. I'd gladly pay more and wait longer to have a clean, quiet, high-end Waymo experience w/o a talkative driver w/ questionable driving skills playing bad music in a dirty car.
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