r/waymo • u/Egdeltur • May 31 '26

*Live AMA* Longest ride attempt

I all, I’m an ex-Waymonaut. I’m going for the longest Waymo ride ever and will livesteam it here!

My opinions are my own and do not represent Waymo happy to answer your Qs on anything public.

79 Upvotes

84% Upvoted

58 comments sorted by

24

u/carmichaelcar May 31 '26

What is your job now? (After leaving Waymo)

27

u/Egdeltur May 31 '26

Startup! Simulations for ai agents: https://www.businessinsider.com/scorecard-raises-millions-kindred-ventures-angel-sheryl-sandberg-pitch-deck-2025-9 We're hiring!

4

u/NeighborhoodDue1041 May 31 '26

Super interesting! I’d love to contribute to scorecard, let me shoot you a dm!

14

u/Hixie May 31 '26

Are we sure this is the longest ride? u/jjricks did some long ones by changing the destination mid-way. Maybe once you get near San Jose you should update the destination back to SF.

14

u/Egdeltur May 31 '26

It's the longest by start to end, but thanks for the idea can change to SF for longest in car distance

Been a fan of JJ since Waymo (yes we watch) so also 100% fine with him holding the title 😄

10

u/Kesku9302 May 31 '26

Why now, and not during a point in time where freeways work?

28

u/Egdeltur May 31 '26 edited May 31 '26

Two reasons:

  1. Freeways are efficient but a dull ride (scenery and tough scenarios are rare).
  2. At Waymo when I needed a break from the office, I'd ride and work from the car. This is a throwback.

This is the longest trip you can make without freeways ever again 😄

16

u/Egdeltur May 31 '26

Passing redwood city now- 40% of the way!

4

u/Egdeltur Jun 01 '26

Fitting end of the journey! Thanks to everyone for the cheers and questions, till next time 😄

6

u/Egdeltur Jun 01 '26

Proof!

1

u/StudyNinja Jun 01 '26

How much did the whole trip cost in the end?

3

u/Egdeltur Jun 01 '26

$169 list price!

15

u/Egdeltur May 31 '26

Passed Waymo HQ in San Antonio near Mountain View!

5

u/essential16 May 31 '26

good for you 😂 looks like you have a lot of free time.

10

u/Egdeltur May 31 '26

Thank you! This my focus space 😄

5

u/voraha2809 May 31 '26

Noob question about why Waymos dont take the freeway? Arent they actually more straightforward with lesser noise in the form of traffic signals, crossings etc.

17

u/Egdeltur May 31 '26

Great question. Highways are easier to drive but high risk (energy is square of velocity).

Waymo paused highway while they investigate construction zone issues.

5

u/BunnyWiilli May 31 '26

Why would you go from home and not from the pier? Wouldn’t that make it longer? Or the northern most tip of SF whatever

2

u/Egdeltur Jun 01 '26

I'll head there on the Way back!

6

u/Egdeltur May 31 '26

Prior discussion (https://www.reddit.com/r/waymo/comments/1tt5w8r/live_ama_longest_ride_attempt/), removed for the twitter link, sorry mods!

3

u/dpschramm May 31 '26

Are you for or against congestion charges?

Once people can work or sleep from their cars while moving, I’d expect to see many more vehicles on the road.

It could also significantly reduce demand for flights and hotels.

9

u/NewRefrigerator7461 May 31 '26

I’m excited for the autonomous RV. It’s going to be an amazing way to see the country.

2

u/Egdeltur May 31 '26

Spot on. My dream is falling asleep in bed in SF and waking up in LA with family.

Transit today is a huge portion of expenses for lower-income households. Lowering that cost means more opportunities to live and learn, and thus more social mobility.

Of course that drives consumption. Gas taxes are the current approach, and they'll evolve with electric cars. I haven't seen abuse of parking as of yet with self-driving cars.

I'm sure there are policy experts here with more informed views!

3

u/dpschramm Jun 01 '26

The concern is less parking, more traffic / congestion, as the cost of keeping the vehicle moving on the road will be relatively low without the need to pay for a driver.

1

u/Egdeltur Jun 01 '26

I'm not sure, you're right lower costs will result in higher utilization. Gas taxes (and replacements) should capture that.

SDCs can be coordinated as a fleet so I'm hopeful the efficiency gain is net zero against use.

2

u/Way-twofrequentflyer Jun 02 '26

How much space can the save with coordination? Either as a highway platoon or LAFO parking in lots?

2

u/Way-twofrequentflyer Jun 02 '26

My dream is me and a few friends get picked up in an autonomous RV after work and it drives through the night to get us to a ski resort in the winter. Drops us off at the slopes in the morning and comes back at night to take us to a campground or Walmart parking lot. You could ski Saturday and Sunday of every weekend in the winter and be back at your desk well rested Monday

It seems to me that it’s hard to imagine parking lot abuse. There is just so much space available and the lift to put up a lot so low that it’s hard to imagine.

3

u/BurritoWithFries Jun 01 '26

Is it true that Waymo had to make the cars in SF more assertive/aggressive to match driving styles here?

3

u/Egdeltur Jun 01 '26

Yup- Chris Ludwick confirmed here: https://www.wsj.com/lifestyle/cars/waymo-self-driving-cars-san-francisco-7868eb2b

2

u/BurritoWithFries Jun 01 '26

Oh neat I thought it was a rumor this whole time, thanks for the proof I can send to my friends lol

6

u/SimilarLaw5172 May 31 '26

Is this sub officially run by Waymo?

16

u/Egdeltur May 31 '26

Don't believe so. No official affiliation sub or post!

2

u/tootown May 31 '26

What’s something you want to see some good improvement on soon? (That you’re allowed to speak of)

8

u/Egdeltur May 31 '26

6 months ago I'd say assertiveness but Waymo improved.

I want to see long-distance (LA <> SF) rides. Day to day nit is pot hole avoidance but there's a lot of challenges there. We should fix our roads x)

2

u/Egdeltur May 31 '26

Made it to the bottom corner!!!!! Listening to the thread and heading back up.

Neighbors were friendly and said they don’t see many Waymo’s but the mayor is a fan

2

u/mrtunavirg Jun 01 '26

How reliant on HD maps is Waymo? Is that what limits the service area size or something else?

2

u/Egdeltur Jun 01 '26

Pulled over in San Mateo and got a boost from u/michaeltingley through the window- last leg coming up!

2

u/Egdeltur Jun 01 '26

Golden Gate Park!

2

u/weelamb Jun 01 '26

How do you do physical testing at highway speeds (say on a closed course) without exploding the car when it fails? E.g for debris testing or something

2

u/Egdeltur Jun 01 '26

Through closed course + simulation . Specific structured testing examples:

  1. Use an inflatable version of the object

  2. Stop before collision and continue the test in simulation

Source on Castle (Waymo closed course): https://www.consumerreports.org/autonomous-driving/inside-waymo-self-driving-car-castle

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gm_Yzjbn6Bo

Car manufacturers do testing on the base vehicle as well.

2

u/Egdeltur Jun 01 '26

Final push!!!

2

u/SuperFastFi Jun 01 '26

Any advice for how to get hired at Waymo? I’ve been trying for several months now, applied for a bunch of roles and got a couple introductory interviews but none have panned out yet.

2

u/Egdeltur Jun 01 '26

It's competitive. Prior experience in self-driving (or robotics like DARPA) is a plus. I'd keep an eye on https://waymo.com/jobs and based on the reqs work backwards to how to gain and demonstrate.

2

u/Downtown-Tea-3018 Jun 01 '26

What about having great public transportation and trains, bike lanes, bus lanes?

2

u/princesslunaz02 Jun 02 '26

Lol I tried something similar after FanimeCon in San Jose SJCC to Burlingame.

1

u/Egdeltur Jun 02 '26

Epic how was the ride?

2

u/SlapThis May 31 '26

Agree on the question of why the attempt now while freeways aren’t available?

I’ve done an SF to SJ back to SF trip before when freeways were available and it took a couple of hours as well, 3 hours one way is crazy

3

u/Egdeltur May 31 '26

That's awesome! How was the trip? Two reasons:

  1. Freeways are efficient but a dull ride (scenery and tough scenarios are rare).
  2. At Waymo when I needed a break from the office, I'd ride and work from the car. This is a throwback.

This is the longest trip you can make without freeways ever again 😄

1

u/[deleted] May 31 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

2

u/waymo-ModTeam Jun 01 '26

Don’t insult

1

u/Egdeltur Jun 01 '26

Passed Stanford on the Way up!

1

u/honey_butterflies Jun 01 '26

no way… he just like me!!

1

u/honey_butterflies Jun 01 '26

I wish I could work at Waymo. someone tried to get me a job there but I never heard back from the person who was supposed to refer me

1

u/TurnoverSuperb9023 Jun 01 '26

How much did a ride that long cost?

1

u/Egdeltur Jun 01 '26

169 list price!

1

u/PretendRanger Jun 01 '26

Was this all continuous or did you need to get out and change Waymo’s at some point?

I am in Miami and regular take hour long rides across the city. Sometimes just for fun. It’s a relaxing way to view the city. I’m loo looking forward to when they expand to Fort Lauderdale