Waymo: Partnering with Valley Metro to explore public transportation solutions

medium.com

2 pointsjfoster2 comments

In my mind, there are a few potential outcomes from this kind of a partnership

1. Waymo and other self driving cars become a bridge for transit, linking riders to major transit hubs and helping transit agencies become more efficient with traditionally expensive services like dial-a-ride and paratransit.

2. Waymo uses these kinds of partnerships to pull transit riders into their self driving cars and show them how great the experience is, then drops prices over time to divert riders from transit. This could kill traditional fixed route bus systems.

3. Another outcome could be a combo of the two as many large infastructure projects like subways and light rails will always be more efficient than transit. Bus systems could die and rail systems will thrive.

We shall see I suppose.

There are already rideshare-public authority partnerships for transit, in part to address the fact that fixed route bus systems aren't great in suburban areas.

It makes sense for SDCs for much the same reasonds. And the focus on first and last-mile makes it more complementary to existing transit than some partnerships.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com