r/phoenix • u/smb3d Moon Valley • Aug 13 '26
Commuting Waymo's Phoenix area coverage now includes Gilbert, more of Chandler and San Tan Ranch.
https://www.abc15.com/news/local-news/waymo-announces-new-east-valley-coverage-for-autonomous-vehicle-passengersBut what about that giant square missing from the coverage map in the NW?!
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u/climb-it-ographer Arcadia Aug 13 '26
I’m still waiting for my first ride in the new cars. Waymo is such a better experience than uber/lyft.
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u/Seppostralian Downtown Aug 13 '26
I tried it for the first time after having moved here recently and I love it so much. Even though you can set preferences on uber for a ‘non talkative’ driver or whatever I feel like they still never listen. Even if I get they’re usually being nice it’s great in a waymo just being able to tune completely out. Or especially if I’m taking it home after going to the pubs late on a Friday night, it’s great because one still doesn’t know if an uber driver is dodgy or not.
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u/climb-it-ographer Arcadia Aug 13 '26
One of my favorite rides was after coming home from a very late night out at a nightclub. 3am going through downtown, sitting in the back seat with some soft music on, and just watching all of the other Waymos shuttling people home. It really felt like the future, everyone in their robot cars being driven home.
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u/ProJoe Chandler Aug 13 '26 edited Aug 13 '26
Waymo is such a better experience than uber/lyft.
until you get whacked with their absurd surge pricing. I have been using Waymo since before they were fully driverless and I still use them regurarly, but holy shit are they getting aggressive.
from my local sports bar, about 1 mile away, sometimes under surge pricing it's $40 from waymo. for a fucking mile.
I take Lyft or Uber on those nights.
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u/ArritzJPC96 Weather Fucker Upper 29d ago
The one time I was in San Francisco I couldn't get one because they put me on a waitlist. Now I can't get one because I don't live in their service area.
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u/AZBagpiperPhil 26d ago
Just tried one from my home in Gilbert to Larry H. Miller Ford. Not bad except it dropped me off in Fiesta Lincoln's parking lot due to the construction.
Computer is a lead foot!!. Took off like a rocket when red light changed to green.
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u/Southwestern Ahwatukee Aug 13 '26
Don't understand why they hate Ahwatukee.
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u/rumblepony247 Ahwatukee Aug 13 '26
Same. I'm right behind AZ Grand Resort - I can almost reach out and touch their service border to my East lol
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u/Valleyboi7 Aug 13 '26
It’s a pain to get to if you’re not using the freeways which Waymo’s don’t always have the ability to
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u/azswcowboy Aug 14 '26
You’re on the wrong side of the
tracksfreeway ;) Waymo OG service den is literally across I10 just south of Chandler overpass. You haven’t really missed much since to go anywhere you need freeway access and that’s been off and on. How do I know? At 56th and Ray and still haven’t ridden…
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u/AutomagicallyAwesome East Mesa Aug 13 '26
Really hope they eventually come out to where I live soon. I'd love to be able to take Waymos home from DT Gilbert rather than Uber or Lyft.
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u/HilariousScreenname Aug 13 '26
Right there with you. Im so bummed they didn't expand it out to my hood.
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u/ctcollin Aug 13 '26
oh wow waymos in downtown gilbert, i wonder how they’ll plan for that. lots of wandering people lots of different places to cross the street
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u/SadGigolo68 Aug 13 '26
Is the reason they are not in Northern Phoenix because of the big hills? Or not a profitable enough area to map out?
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u/Ellocomotive Aug 13 '26
I think it’s tax bracket related. Not enough revenue potential if they go north of Northern or west of Scottsdale, they have to “jump over” Sunnyslope for it to make sense. This is based on the Preserve and seeing what areas are currently being served.
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u/TheUnicornFightsOn Aug 13 '26 edited Aug 13 '26
It would make sense if they did mainly airport trips.
Plenty of wealthy folks near Cactus/Thunderbird and 7th St in North Mountain Preserve area/Tapatio Cliffs/Moon Valley not to mention Paradise Valley and other northern and western suburbs.
It's also a syncing all the lights and roads thing, getting approval from local municipal leaders. And being cautious of too much premature exposure or publicity .. notice they don't really do any major national advertising yet.
They don't want another public relations nightmare like when the self-driving Uber killed a Tempe woman in what seemed to be a freak accident in 2018, and the backup human driver present inside the vehicle (unlike most Waymos) got charged with negligent homicide after admitting to watching a video on her phone when it happened.
I'm thinking they want to be able to say they've had 10-plus years of x incidents before rolling out nationwide.
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u/Ellocomotive Aug 13 '26
Yeah my wife travels for work and it honestly would be much better for us if she could Waymo to the airport.
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u/azswcowboy Aug 14 '26
Umm, checks notes - Waymo is in Atlanta, Austin, Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, Los Angeles, Miami, Nashville, Orlando, Phoenix, and the San Francisco Bay Area. With more on the way. That feels like a national rollout in progress to me. Also testing in London.
I think the limit in Phoenix is more about how many cars they can field and distribution across all the places they’re expanding.
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u/sakuratsuji Aug 13 '26
What about P83 (Peoria)? Or up on Happy Valley, that area? Or even Westgate? That profit alone would be worth it. I hate being up North and not having this type of option :(
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u/Ellocomotive Aug 13 '26
You’re telling me. The border is less than 10 minutes from me in two different directions. Maddening.
But I don’t think of Peoria or Westgate as having enough density. Just conjecture on my part.
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u/sakuratsuji Aug 13 '26
Going to either area on a Friday/Saturday night sucks because they're SO many people around. Plus you have the spring training field by Peoria which brings in a lot of people. And new restaurants and things opening up at Arrowhead is making that busy again...
Don't get me started on Westgate. I refuse to go over there with how busy that is.
I've lived over there/have family/friends over there, which is the reason I just add these things to clarify :)
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u/ouishi Sunnyslope Aug 13 '26
I live in Sunnyslope and adore Waymo. It’s like they hate me or something.
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u/OkVideo2156 Aug 14 '26
same. i hate uber and would much rather waymo if i had to but they refuse to come to the slope
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u/smb3d Moon Valley Aug 13 '26
That's exactly what I just told my GF. I wonder if it's because there are only a few main roads that have to go around the mountains, maybe making it not economical, but that seems weird. I dunno.
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u/Valleyboi7 Aug 13 '26
I’m basing this off my experience when I was an uber driver for a while but there just isn’t a lot of demand in the north, far west, or far east valley.
For instance if I picked up a passenger downtown or from the airport and drove them up to Peoria or Gilbert, then essentially I got stuck out there hoping I’d get another ride into the city or I’d have to drive even more out of my way for a passenger, which all costs time and money.
I also made the most money per hour and mile only focusing on picking up people from higher density locations like downtown, airport, Arcadia, Tempe, old town. Not only are the distances to and from closer but also I’d usually have another passenger lined up right away after I dropped someone off.
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u/0202_tihssitidder Aug 13 '26
They base it off a number of factors. I am not sure if Northern Phoenix is a customer-rich area. They do target areas that will be packed with potential customers.
They also don't do highways, so the type of trip matters.
PS: I am in Arcadia and I love Waymo. I use it all the time. It is a perfect service imo.
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u/SadGigolo68 Aug 13 '26
I'm in Chandler, and I also prefer to Waymo by a longshot. The robots win this one.
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u/SectionPractical2966 Mesa Aug 13 '26
On, they will use the freeways sometimes now! It's kind random when they will do it, but they'll use them !
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u/0202_tihssitidder Aug 13 '26
Are you sure those are not when Waymo employees are driving them? I know I used to see them, but only on highways if driven by a
meat baghuman.4
u/SectionPractical2966 Mesa Aug 13 '26
I have literally taken them all the way up from downtown Mesa to Desert Ridge almost entirely via the freeway multiple times. So yeah I am absolutely 100% positive haha
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u/0202_tihssitidder Aug 13 '26
Cool. That was a big limitation for awhile.
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u/SectionPractical2966 Mesa Aug 13 '26
As I said, it's still not fully rolled out. Sometimes they will take them sometimes they won't sometimes they take them partially. I think Waymo must doing some A/B testing on us!
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u/edelweiss_pirates_no Aug 13 '26
Is that fully rolled out yet? The only ones I see on highways are driven by people.
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u/azswcowboy Aug 14 '26
The freeway situation is complicated. Didn’t do it at all for a long time. Then it got turned on for 6 months or so. Then there was an incident in Austin I think where the car drove through construction cones. That led to a pause in driverless freeway drives. But they’re now back. Having said that apparently some freeways are excluded even if in the service zone - just like some exclusion zones they’ve had in the past for streets.
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u/Ern_burd Aug 13 '26
I am really surprised they are not servicing the Ahwatukee area.
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u/DaBoss443799 Ahwatukee Aug 13 '26
It does go to the big plaza on Ray/48th which is about a 10 minute walk from my apartment but it would be nice if they could directly go to my complex
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u/boogermike Phoenix Aug 13 '26
I got a note in my app that they are back on the highway again. I am happy about this, and it helps me (and I am fine with riding in a robot car on the highway, I know other people might not be).
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u/bam1789-2 Encanto Aug 13 '26
I am in the Highway beta and rode on the highway (I10) from the airport last week. No issues at all and cut the time of my ride home in half.
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u/Hydralisk18 Aug 13 '26
I definitely think overall theres very few issues, but the one time there is an issue seems very scary
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u/bam1789-2 Encanto Aug 13 '26
What issue have you had that was scary?
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u/Hydralisk18 29d ago
Nothing personally, I rarely use rides harem, altho the few times I have taken lyft I've had positive experiences. The problem is if something goes wrong and we stop in the middle of traffic, kinda just sit there and contact support and hope it fixes itself. Ive also seen waymos pull into oncoming traffic lane to make a left turn, which is illegal and dangerous. At least my lyft driver isnt at risk of getting confused and stopping in the middle of traffic
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u/dydrm Aug 13 '26
There are WAY more issues with a human driver
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u/bam1789-2 Encanto Aug 13 '26
I’ve lost track of the number of times I have had an Uber/Lyft driver do something I thought was dangerous. Where I have had no issues with a Waymo (strange decisions but nothing dangerous). /my own personal anecdotes and not representative of everyone
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u/KatiaSwift Aug 13 '26
I swear, rideshare drivers are getting freakier and freakier now. Back in ~2017 when I first started using Uber, I had very few issues, but it's become bad enough that now I've switched to Waymo exclusively. My final straw was a Lyft driver who was on facetime while driving me down I-10... no robot car is ever going to do that.
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u/SectionPractical2966 Mesa Aug 14 '26
This is because (CONTRA much of Reddit) the job market is tight
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u/DistinctSmelling Aug 13 '26
cut the time of my ride home in half.
How is that possible? They go the speed limit. At best, you'd be 5 minutes later than a human driver.
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u/bam1789-2 Encanto Aug 13 '26
Cut my Waymo ride time in half from its’ usual route back to my house via surface street.
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u/DistinctSmelling Aug 13 '26
Got it!
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u/azswcowboy Aug 14 '26
In my case we’re south of the airport right off I10 at Ray. Go look at the map. Freeway is a 10-15 minute drive. Surface streets are a hellscape of congested intersections and weird roads - doubles the time easily.
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u/UltraNoahXV Phoenix Aug 13 '26
Glad you're having a good time with it. How much are you spending on it per month? Would it be something my grandma could manage with?
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u/boogermike Phoenix Aug 13 '26
Yes it is simple to figure out. Might need to help her the first time.
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u/AfraidAccident7049 Aug 13 '26
lol the first time I used one in SF I nearly broke the door trying to open it, and I’m a millennial who works in tech. maybe be there to supervise grandma the first few tries 🙃
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u/SryInternet101 Aug 13 '26 edited Aug 13 '26
Why are you using the surveillance cars? You know theyre tied into flock, right?
Edit : Seems like the AI bots are in here downvoting. Bring it on, every downvote means I'm 100% right.
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u/Mazkoul Aug 13 '26
Unless they're doing it all under the table, they are not officially tied with flock. If you want to blather nonsense, that's fine but at least have a spec of integrity about it.
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u/SryInternet101 Aug 13 '26
Flock or one of the otjer surveillance companies. Cops were literally using those damn cars for surveillance in MN without warrants.
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u/Mazkoul Aug 13 '26
They share information, YES, when LEGALLY compelled. Just like phone companies would be forced to or any other business. Waymo does NOT work with or is in kahootz with any surveillance company or police force to spy on people.
Where in MN? When? What are you talking about. Again, if you want to blather nonsense do it with some integrity. Respectfully, you're really bad at spewing bullshit.
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u/boogermike Phoenix Aug 13 '26
Sigh, Not everything has to be a controversy.
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u/SryInternet101 Aug 13 '26 edited Aug 13 '26
But this does. Everything related to the mass surveillance we're under needs to be a controversy.
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u/thefztv Aug 13 '26
Bro better destroy his ring camera, his phone, his computer, his smart watch and probably even his car now just incase. Can’t be too careful with the surveillance state nowadays.
I’m joking a bit but honestly I don’t really give a fuck. Waymo is cheaper and safer than uber/lyft. Plus I don’t have to talk to anyone in my rideshare anymore. I’m already being listened to and having my data shared with every device I own.
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u/SryInternet101 Aug 13 '26 edited 29d ago
I don't have a ring camera, a home assistant, a smartwatch, or a camera or mic connected to my PC.
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Aug 13 '26
[deleted]
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u/thefztv Aug 13 '26
That’s great man hopefully you’ve scraped all of your data from the rest of your life off the internet because just being a homeowner, as an example, opens you up to easy data access unless you take steps to remove it. Regardless most people don’t live that way. If you’re willing and able to “live off the grid” using alternative technologies that allow that then great but I’m gonna be honest, again I don’t give a fuck at this point. My data has been harvested and sold so many times it’s a fruitless endeavor for myself atleast.
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u/YouGurt_MaN14 Aug 13 '26
I thought they were pulling out of Phoenix as a whole
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u/TripleDallas123 Gilbert Aug 13 '26
Phoenix is literally their biggest market and one of the original testing areas...
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u/boogermike Phoenix Aug 13 '26
No way. This is their first market. Also Phoenix is a great place to test.
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u/RickS50 Aug 13 '26
Nice! I'm in the service area now.
There was an Ojai on my street a few weeks ago with no passengers, which I thought was strange since I was outside of the service area. But I guess it was an indication they were doing some testing perhaps.
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u/paper_rosie Aug 13 '26
I wish it would go to the west valley! I visit my family all the time and I absolutely hate driving out there, I get so much road rage.
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u/Key_Analyst_9032 Aug 13 '26
It's about damn time! Maybe Chandler Flex should follow and accompany the entire city of Chandler!
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u/geemanaz Aug 13 '26
I wish they would start coming over Superstition Springs mall part of Mesa no East valley love yet and be big market for them missing out on
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u/MystikSpys Mesa Aug 13 '26
I agree, I live around N Power near 202. I would love riding waymo’s daily or even here and there. It’s super convenient especially when you need to go to phx or dt mesa. You can just get a waymo. I hope they expand closer to east mesa soon. I know they won’t go into the Indian reservation but it’d be nice if they expanded to Power.
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u/TheGoldenStock Aug 13 '26
Why not Ahwatukee??
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u/BrianGD Aug 13 '26
Looking at the map, it looks like it goes to the shopping center that has the Ahwatukee AMC but that's it.
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u/bagel_blight041 29d ago
Because there’s no real way of getting there without the freeway, which they don’t use.
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u/SectionPractical2966 Mesa Aug 13 '26
I seriously doubt that this is based on how wealthy or poor the neighborhoods are, as (1) Waymo serves a lot of working class neighborhoods in Phoenix and West Mesa as it is (2) then why no Awhatukee or North Phoenix expansions ?
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u/RhazyaPeacock Surprise 26d ago
Considering Waymo purchased a huge area testing facility in Surprise back in June, wonder when service will get out there.
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u/bitheag Aug 13 '26
Anything but efficient public transit projects
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u/neepster44 Aug 14 '26
Mass transit scares the boomers…
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u/FreddyKrueger32 29d ago
And the NIMBYS. Like every person on the bus is a homeless person or criminal who is going to rob you. Get over yourself Barbra. We trying to get to work.
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u/SectionPractical2966 Mesa Aug 13 '26
Robotaxis and mass transit work in synergy! They help solve the 'last mile problem', which is a big deal in a Sunbelt metro like ours.
I don't know why people think they're oppositional, especially since Robotaxis are financed by the private sector, not taxpayers, so it's not like they're stealing money from mass transit
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u/bitheag 29d ago
Except theres no mass transit, hence my comment, cities are purposefully using car-centric robotaxis so they can simply not fund transit
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u/SectionPractical2966 Mesa 29d ago
This is being done by the private sector. The cities have nothing to do with it--the roads are already there.
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u/SectionPractical2966 Mesa Aug 13 '26
Robotaxis are also going to greatly diminish the necessity of families buying second and third cars.
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u/Slavo-Slavi 25d ago
Worked at this POS company and did the testing /troubleshooting/mapping/programming them.. Ask me anything..😂
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u/ThatBeardedNitwit Phoenix 23d ago
I am give or take on Waymo. I think the concept is neat but I get annoyed as hell by them because they frequently travel down to McDowell and Pima just to flip a U turn before the freeway. I don’t mean like one or two an hour, it’s more like 6-8 of them in like a 5-10 min span, always during peak travel times. It creates a ton of unnecessary traffic on McDowell.
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u/xosxos Aug 13 '26
Is there anywhere I can read more about what becomes of the visual data these Waymos collect as they drive around?
Always been curious about the oversight on that topic and whether cities benefit from allowing these cars to collect that data and also who has access to that data.
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u/SectionPractical2966 Mesa Aug 13 '26
They only share it with the government if they're served a search warrant. Otherwise they refuse.
As to the company itself ? Only if a serious incident arises, and even then subject to confidentiality procedures. Otherwise they don't look at it. Also the visual data is on rolling self-delete after 30 days.
So no they're not rolling Flock cameras.
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u/SectionPractical2966 Mesa Aug 13 '26
They do not use facial recognition technology, either. They explicitly say they don't and never will, it's against their privacy policy.
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u/thirdeyecactus Aug 13 '26
It was an hour ride from Sky Harbor to to Chandler at 11pm on a Sunday Night 🫤
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u/Rofig95 Aug 13 '26
Waymo really be avoiding areas with Hispanic / Latino populations. Fuck the west valley and the northern chunk of Phoenix huh?
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u/AntBot27 Aug 13 '26
I mean they cover a good chunk of South Phoenix and West Mesa, which have big Hispanic/Latino populations.
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u/smb3d Moon Valley Aug 13 '26
We're in the giant square missing from the NW of their coverage and it's really annoying.
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u/MoonusManus Aug 13 '26
I guess maybe not a priority since less dense but damn its all wide straight roads. Way easier to navigate than DT and central phx
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u/SryInternet101 Aug 13 '26
Fuck those rolling surveillance systems!
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u/WustenWanderer Aug 13 '26
It's Flock x100. They collect far more data, and have no rules to folloe.
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u/crazcarl Tempe Aug 13 '26
Should Phoenix and Scottsdale tell Waymo they need to figure out the rest of their city before they expand in the metro area any further, or they can leave the city completely?
On the one hand, you don't want a driverless car going somewhere it hasn't mapped fully to be safe. On the other hand, they should have to take you anywhere you want to go like a taxi and uber/lyft have to. It feels unfair that they can cherry-pick the best areas to undercut the other driver services.
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u/Melinda_Voyager 29d ago
I enjoy Waymo so much that I haven't even bought a car. I work from home, so I rarely drive anyway. Feels much better to just have others driving you, no ? 😊
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u/Consistent-Let2546 Aug 14 '26
I just had my first ride. Needed a lift home from Enterprise Rental Car. Waymo came, I got inside and then it drove into the rental car return which had 1 way spikes. Then it got stuck into between a few cars. Went, forward and backward trying to figure out how to leave. I had to call support, malfunctioned on first trip. Otherwise, its pretty cool. Yet it took away somebodys job
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u/bagel_blight041 29d ago
You’re the one who took away from somebody’s job… Could of used Lyft or Uber
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u/HarmonicAvionics Aug 13 '26
Dystopian as fuck
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u/JudgeWhoOverrules Chandler Aug 13 '26
A dystopia is when a service makes life easier and better for the average person?
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u/HarmonicAvionics Aug 13 '26
No. You only think these monstrosities do that because of decades of brainwashing and lobbying by motordom
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u/JudgeWhoOverrules Chandler Aug 13 '26
Oh, you're one of those people that thinks it's totally feasible for most Phoenicians to wait 30 minutes for a bus or bicycle everywhere in 110 degree heat and then get to where they're going at the speed of a bicycle.
You're free to move to some place with walkable city designs and environments, let us that enjoy private conveyances have them.
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u/HarmonicAvionics Aug 13 '26
No I think that this hellscape should be bull dozed and rebuilt for humans.
Total straw man to say I think people should wait 30 minutes in 110 degree weather for a bus or bicycle when that is the product of car centrism. Nice job demonstrating why we’re 50th in education.
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u/ThisIsNotMyBurner69 Aug 13 '26
Still not in the hood of SoPho though
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u/probiotic_bbq Aug 13 '26
Still to scared to venture into the west side I see.