Driverless Taxis
The USA invents like no other country and that’s why I travel there each year so I can learn and speak with confidence about things I’ve seen and experienced. This time I was as excited as a small child would be getting their first bike, because this time I’m catching a driverless taxi.
Now I’ve been talking driverless cars and pilotless drones for at least seven years now but last week I caught a driverless taxi twice. It’s simply amazing and not something people should be afraid of. I was in awe. I was doing something few have tried and many claim never to want to try. It’s a brave and exciting new world when you go discovering and in Sydney our latest driverless Metro train network has provided us with a reliable and speedy, world class public transport system which, based on usage numbers the whole city has embraced.
It’s Winter in San Francisco, the capital of technology and I’ve downloaded the Waymo App to my phone and entered my credit card payment details. Waymo is owned by Alphabet, Google’s owner. I’ve just caught the ferry from Tiburon into the city and I’m on Market Street opposite the rather beautifully refurbished Ferry Building on the Embarcadero in San Francisco. I’m with my wife, Nell and about to take my virgin voyage in Waymo to Union Square. I know the route well by foot, so this trip is simply to have the experience as well as a test. My San Francisco relatives tell me I’m crazy to be in the city, that I could be attacked by street people. I’m not worried I grew up watching westerns and war movies. Clint Eastwood lurks deep in my DNA. I’m mentally ready but understandably nervous. I love driving but I’ve never handed the wheel of my car to no one before. This will be interesting, can I let go? Is there a world where I relinquish my safety to a machine?
The App identifies a pickup destination on the opposite side of the road, and we wait, and a car arrives. My app hasn’t confirmed the car is mine. An American lady opens the door and lets her 13 year old niece into the front passenger side. She closes the door and opens the back doors so the girl’s parents can take the back seat. She’s a career teacher from the mid-west and I ask her how come she knew that car was hers and not mine. She says, “check out the initials on top”. It has JA illuminated on the roof projector, not KD. She smiles and tells me her niece has no idea that there isn’t going to be a human driver…yet. What a future! I’m excited, perhaps I’ll beat my old SF Newmark Knight Frank colleagues, Phil Mahoney, Ben Stern and Andrea Arata to try it. Wouldn’t that be good. Aussie 1, Americans 0,0,0. Somehow, I doubt it though.
My car arrives, it’s an electric Jaguar, very nice. I appreciate the Jaguar marque, my dad owned several English built versions, now of course they are made in India. I get in the front seat; the car starts talking and my name appears on the screens front and back. This is my car. I buckle up and notice that the driver’s seat belt is already buckled. Signs say, “don’t touch the wheel” and “don’t attempt to push the brake or accelerator”. I’m not about to touch much and in the front preparing for a head on collision. The car readies and then departs the kerb. I’m being driven.
The pace is calming. We are doing 15 mph to 25 mph which is 25 - 40 km phr. The screens show the lanes and the traffic as well as the parked vehicles. The car stops for lights. It turns corners and accelerates even indicates and changes lanes. It seems to be anticipating conditions 150 metres ahead. This is amazing. I’m being driven to my destination.
I turn to the right and there is another Waymo right next to me. A young girl sees me and waves, we are overjoyed knowing that we have taken the plunge of faith together, laughing in the face of potential danger.
I’m not sure the vehicle took me the best way, but the fare is capped, and I’m not concerned. I have time. The vehicle gets us close to Union Square but not right in it. This suggests that the navigation system limits some city access in the same way some golf carts limit course access. The car spots a gap in parked cars to stop and decides to nose in so that it fills part of the lane allowing it sufficient room to leave in a forward direction. We get out and watch it depart. What an amazing experience.
Later we take a second trip. This time we are a little rushed for time, so we are under slightly more pressure albeit that we are still in that fascination phase. The car makes a left-hand turn and stays in the left lane. We need to turn right about 200m ahead. No opportunity presents itself to enter the right lane as the traffic is jammed. The left lane moves freely, and the car decides to drive through and find a pathway back. The car has obviously been designed to avoid conflict. It simply returns to the route it should have taken. That’s the moral guidance that the coders have planned so that safety is foremost. We arrive at the destination, and I’m converted. It was an incredible experience. At no time was I in danger although I had planned several untested exit strategies, just in case.
Shortly after my two successful trips Waymo notified me to take more with a 40% discount over the ensuing 2 weeks between 2am and 2pm Monday to Friday. I appreciate American selling and customer attention.
According to the Wall Street Journal Waymo claims 150,000 trips a week in the four cities they are testing being, San Francisco, Phoenix, Los Angeles and Austin. There is obvious speculation that soon those locations may entertain freeway driving. For now, Waymo is well represented in the city but in San Francisco cannot go past the Golden Gate Bridge.
The competition in driverless technology is fierce with the following mainstream monster corporates fighting it out - Waymo (Google), Uber, Nvidia, Amazon, Tesla etc. Uber only just made its first profit ever so their tilt, which I understand involves Waymo is vital to its future.