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Comment by xnx | Hacker News Reader

Cool and natural expansion of their ride services to match Uber for Business.

Not mentioned that I could find in the materials, but ride-sharing/shuttle service would be a natural option to first pilot with Waymo for Business. That would put Waymo one step closer to upgrading legacy public transportation systems.

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Filling the roads with single person occupancy vehicles is not a replacement for "legacy public transportation".

GP said upgrading, not replacement. Bus or train currently can’t do last mile. Without a viable option people may opt for cars instead of bus or train. This will help, not replace, public transportation. It may make bus/train more popular.

A 5000lb car to move a <200lb person is a terrible last mile option. There has never been a better time for last mile options than today. On the train I see all sorts of bikes, ebikes, escooters, and skateboards being used.

Electric microtransit is awesome in the right situation: able bodied, acceptable weather, minimal cargo, traveling solo, secure vehicle storage at destination. Waymo vehicles will be an excellent tool in the toolkit for moving people safely, efficiently, and affordably.

That right situation describes the vast majority of peoples trips. Not many disabled people hauling a cord of wood through a blizzard very often. Most peoples trips by far are their single occupant commute to and from work.

Everything that's easy to reach on a bicycle is also easy to reach on a mobility scooter, see Netherlands

Bus gets me from 50m from my house to 50m from my office. How is that not doing the last mile?

That's very fortunate or very strategic of you to choose your home and workplace to work so well with the bus routes. Most people in the US do not have a bus stop within 50 meters of their home and workplace (and certainly not a single bus line that operates frequently at all times needed).

Absolutely. Outside of cities personal car-based makes a lot of sense.

Inside a city is a different matter.

(See this for an example of what a pretty good transport setup can give you: https://www.lothianbuses.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/2509... )

Getting maximum efficient use out of rail, trains, buses, roads, and vehicles is the goal. The fewer empty seats moved, the better.

They said “ride sharing/shuttle” option. You might want to get your knees checked out, they seem to be jerking a little too easily.

I guess by "legacy public transportation systems" you're thinking buses?

GoA 4 trains exist today. GoA 3 is usually more practical and is widely used today. So Waymo would be very late to that and have all the wrong technology stack. But sure, there could be room for the Waymo Driver driving a bus, that may not make as much sense as you imagine but anything is possible.

> there could be room for the Waymo Driver driving a bus

Remove the driver from the equation and modern buses are oversized, particularly in a region with rail transportation.

That depends a lot on where you are. Even with BART running beneath, the 125 capacity articulated buses running every 2 minutes along Mission St in San Francisco are pretty packed at rush hour.

For shorter journeys not having to walk as far to, go down into and up from rail stations can make up for the slower speeds.

Get the perfect storm of just three wheelchair users and your standard bus is no longer so oversized seeming.

The term hasn't caught on widely, but "vansit" is a term or the midpoint between individual taxis and fixed-route oversized (most of the time) buses: https://www.templetons.com/brad/robocars/future-transit.html

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