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Comment by evv | Hacker News Reader

Clearly this is the thinking of both companies, but I'm not convinced it makes sense. The $13B that Uber paid out last year gave them access to a scalable network of ~7M vehicles, not just the drivers. Even if they reach level 5 autonomy before they run out of runway, how long will it take to build out a network of that size?

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Who ever gets self driving down first can get as many cars are they want. Two scenarios:

"Let Uber drive you to work for free then pay you to use your car for the day. We'll cover the gas!"

"GM is happy to partner with Lyft to be the first self diving car! GM Good. GM Hip"

Which of those two sentences is the one that's going to create seven million cars out of thin air and then maintain, manage, and insure them?

What do we do when someone pukes in the driverless uber?

Open app, report problem with the vehicle and request something different. Problem vehicle will be taken out of service for review.

I would also put multiple cameras in each car, and train a network on “car is clean” and the related “car is empty” (you could, for example, ask the customer that just left “did you leave your bag in the car?”)

To signal to passengers that you won’t record them during the ride, give the cameras nice red LEDs when in operation, and be open about what you do.

> To signal to passengers that you won’t record them during the ride

I doubt this would even be a concern. Many Uber/Lyft drivers already record interior and exterior views for the duration of every ride. And I don't see anything wrong with that. Hell, think about:

"The rider after you reported damage to the car that you didn't report. Therefore you did it and are responsible for paying for it."

"Where's your proof? Maybe I just didn't notice the damage and it was the rider before me -- it's not my job to inspect your cars. Or maybe the rider after me damaged the car -- possibly even on purpose -- and then blamed me."

They'd be foolish not to record every single ride, from multiple angles if possible.

> Problem vehicle will be taken out of service for review.

I am thinking like a public transit subway in New York. We cannot have anything you can't pressure wash.

However, that also brings up the problem of traffic congestion and automation (as well as comfort and ergonomics?). Can we automate the process of sanitizing a car? Will passengers accept (cold) plastic and aluminum surfaces everywhere?

That's not 7M vehicles concurrently though. At any given time maybe there are a few hundred thousand trips happening. With self-driving cars utilization can go way up since they're not tied to a human. and. So I imagine Goog/Lyft/Uber etc would quickly acquire a fleet of 100k vehicles for a few billion dollars.

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