Hacker News Reader

Comment by partiallypro | Hacker News Reader

I think if Robotaxis take off, then his politics won't matter at all. People aren't going to care what brand of car comes to pick them up as long as they feel safe. I've been bearish on Tesla for years and they always prove me wrong. Robotaxis/Waymos are going to be national thing within the decade. It's just a bet on who survives, the biggest loser will be gig workers, that part I feel confident about.

View on HN

Robotaxis are a pleasant experience now partially because, like early zipcar, it's mostly richer nerds using the service.

Over time they are going to run into all the problems of public infrastructure in low trust places like NYC where, unattended, you will have people use the backseat as a dining room, smoking lounge, bar and toilet. Time will tell how they deal with bad riders.

> Time will tell how they deal with bad riders

Kick them out. Identity is tied to a credit card and a smartphone, after all.

Nature finds a way

Sure, for public infrastructure where the provider is legally limited in the ways it can limit access. If the claim is there literally aren't nice spaces in New York City, or any American city, you haven't been there.

I've lived in NYC 20 years. Unstaffed stuff left unattended just doesn't work.

Zipcars & Cars2Go turned into wrecks precisely because there were no prying eyes at pickup or drop-off. I stopped using them after the 5th consecutive trashed car. Reporting it to support would garner a $10 refunds. Clearly the repercussions for bad customers were not strong.

I disagree. Most rideshares happen in urban areas, where people are liberal. Liberals hate Musk. If you have the choice to take MAGAtaxi or a Waymo, as a liberal that's an obvious choice.

People care more about if a ride is cheap and effective than who owns it. I know that bursts a lot of political die hard bubbles, but it's the absolute truth.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com