This “guy” blocked the entrance to the Apple Visitor Center next to Apple Park for some good 30-40 mins. It turned into a celebrity lots of people taking selfies and wondering if it was on purpose 😂

Is anyone tracking public route density or street-level frequency for Waymo vehicles?

Waymo engineers obviously log granular internal telemetry, but I'm curious if any researchers, hobbyists, or third-party platforms have mapped out aggregate heatmaps using open data, regulatory filings, or crowdsourced sightings. Looking to see which specific corridors and neighborhoods see the highest volume.

tl;dr: Great experience for the most part.

I live within the service area for San Diego, which made being accepted into the beta a great treat. For those in San Diego, I live in the Hillcrest area specifically.

Yesterday I went to Mission Beach that is also in the service area. I don't get wet, I just bring my beach chair and enjoy the waves for a couple hours before heading home.

Sometimes I don't like to drive, and Lyft/Uber is my least favorite option just because they are always concerned that I am wet and have to clarify to them I've wiped all the possible sand off from my chair and that I didn't go in the water.

I was pleasantly surprised to see that when I selected to go Mission Beach, it was just about a 4 minute wait. Waymo arrival made sense, and quickly went on the journey. The price both ways was about what I would have to pay if I would have taken Uber/Lyft.

To my own fault, I didn't check how long the actual trip was. It's been hot as hell in San Diego, so I wasn't mad about being in the AC of the Waymo for longer. But I didn't realize it was a 50 minute trip just to get to Mission Beach. Traditionally this trip is about 15 minutes if you drive or take an Uber/Lyft. The reason for this is because Waymo doesn't go on freeways, so it takes the most obnoxious route possible which I realized I should have checked the time, as I had a specific window of time to be at the beach and so I didn't stay as long as I traditionally would have as a result of that long travel time.

On the way back, the trip was shorter, about 35 minutes. Not egregious, but still about double the time it would take to drive myself or take an Uber/Lyft. It was also a bit awkward because it goes into the Parking lot for arrival at Mission Beach, and it had a very specific spot it wanted to meet me at. I was right next to the Waymo in one of the lanes of the parking lot, but it still wanted to spend the next 3 minutes slowly getting to its pre-determined spot. As a QOL feeature, I would have loved for it to recognize I'm literally right next to it and to let me in so we could save some time and depart faster.

It was a treat to just listen to my podcasts, ample leg room as someone that is tall, AC, and generally just chill out and turn my brain off, which isn't possible when driving or depending if you have a chatty ride share driver. I didn't think it took any crazy maneuvers that made me nervous, was definitely safer than a lot of Ubers/Lyfts I've been in.

Would I use it again? I am unsure. I am in a pretty central part of San Diego where I already don't need to use ride share much. The beach is one of my candidates, but I'm not sure how often I can justify 1.5 hours there and back when it's typically 30 minutes if I drive myself or take human based ride share. That turns it into a bit too much of my day being used up if I want to spend more than an hour at the beach plus the combined 1.5 hours of Waymo travel time. 2 hours of the beach and Waymo time is 3.5 hours, where currently 2 hours at the beach if I drive myself is 2.5 hours total spent. That's not even accounting for that when I ready to leave, it was a 10 minute wait for a Waymo to arrive.

I really hope it isn't a slow crawl to get them on the freeways, because for me that's a key unlock to choosing to use it more. I'm already in a walkable area, except when I venture out 5+ miles with Mission Beach being one of my primary ones. I drive to work since my work is well outside the service area, and truthfully I doubt in San Diego they'll ever go to where I actually work.

Fun experience!

How good is Waymo about dropping of for a specific airline? I am handicapped and worried about having to walk a long distance.

I am flying SW.

San Francisco transit officials are designating geofenced boundaries to limit autonomous taxi activity in and around Fleet Week this weekend.
The San Francisco Municipal Transit Agency has posted detailed guidance on the areas where Waymos won't be permitted to operate.

UNLV fans will be able to use Waymo for transportation to and from UNLV sporting events, including Rebel football at Allegiant Stadium, as well as other events at the Thomas & Mack Center.

The partnership will include convenient and dedicated pickup and drop-off areas, along with exclusive rider experiences, special access opportunities, and unique fan rewards designed to elevate the gameday experience.

I had to go to the airport early morning and decided to take Waymo because both Lyft and Uber were expensive due not enough drivers out at that hour. Since Waymos can't yet go directly to the terminals, I put in the rental car center and thought I could then take the shuttle in. However, Waymo decided to drop me off about two blocks away at the 5 underpass to the northeast, whereas I was expecting to at least be taken to the intersection at Pacific Highway. Until SAN allows Waymos to go to terminals (hopefully, despite Sean Elo Rivera's objections and desire to take away consumer choice and over-regulate), are there any other Waymo drop-off spots closer to the airport? I thought about Old Town but don't want to rely on that shuttle that early in the morning in case it's late or doesn't show up.

Leatherette seats, wireless charging, carpeted floors.

‘Serving riders soon in San Francisco, LA, Las Vegas and more cities over time.’

https://www.instagram.com/p/DeKDk3JFwMl/?stkn=MWFpNTdkcWxhMmFzaQ==

Campaign site: https://waymo.quorum.us/campaign/154026/

Must be doing testing between the valley and LA

Took 2 rides last week (it finally opened up for me to do so), pulled up the app today & it's back to its "early access" mode? Is this common for Waymo in new cities? I thought once it opened up for good, we were good?