Miami, your Waymo ride is ready

Adoption and User Experience

• Several commenters are eager to try Waymo in Miami, especially after bad Uber/Lyft experiences.
• Many report Waymo rides feeling safer, calmer, cleaner, more predictable, and more private (no chatty or reckless driver).
• Others describe unsettling experiences: odd routing, extreme slowness, a vehicle stuck on tram tracks, a pickup that left without them.
• Some women and parents reportedly prefer AVs over being alone with a human driver, even when that means violating ToS by sending kids alone.

Pricing, Economics, and Idle Fleets

• Confusion over unit economics: cars are expensive; one estimate is around $150k per vehicle.
• Waymo is often similar in price to Uber/Lyft, sometimes more, sometimes less (reports vary by city and over time).
• Commenters note that vehicles spend vast amounts of time idle between trips, suggesting current pricing isn’t demand-maximizing.
• Others argue prices are set by what users will pay, not cost, and that a premium is justified by a better experience.

Labor, Inequality, and Local Economic Impact

• A major thread: 30–40% of Uber/Lyft fares currently go to local drivers; AVs redirect that share to corporate profits, investors, and (indirectly) 401(k)s.
• Some see this as classic automation: like looms or typists, low-skill jobs disappear but society benefits long-term.
• Others emphasize wealth concentration, loss of a “backup net” job, and parallels to deindustrialization and political backlash.
• Debate over whether remote “fleet response” jobs are local, and whether they’ll be decent-paying vs offshore call centers.

City Form, Parking, and Traffic

• Optimists predict fewer private cars, consolidated charging depots on cheap land, and repurposed parking lots for higher-density uses.
• Skeptics note no visible transformation yet in cities that already have AVs; traffic and parking still feel as bad as before.
• Concerns about added “deadheading” miles and induced demand: more car trips, more congestion, “zombie lots” of AVs.

Safety, Weather, and Liability

• Many switch to Waymo after frightening human-driven rides; some would pay a premium for perceived safety.
• Others highlight AV failure modes: rain performance, power outages freezing fleets, track incidents.
• Liability is seen as murky; some expect personal insurance and courts to treat it similarly to human-caused crashes.

Public Transit and Broader Transport Mix

• Some argue the U.S. needs rail and buses more than robotaxis; others counter that AVs solve last-mile gaps and can themselves be buses.
• One discussion points out that driver salaries are a major share of transit agency costs, so autonomous buses could unlock more routes and frequency.
• General consensus that AVs are only one piece; walking, biking, and transit must stay central for healthy cities.

Future of Car Ownership and Industry

• One camp expects ubiquitous AVs to slash car ownership and the total car market (especially for legacy OEMs).
• Others say at current or foreseeable prices, owning a car remains far cheaper for most households, especially for longer trips.
• Debate over whether future cost reductions and small single-passenger pods can change this calculus.

Privacy and Social Aspects

• Riders like not sharing confined space with a stranger, even if cameras and mics (usually disabled) record them for the company.
• Some miss serendipitous conversations with drivers and see AVs as another step toward social isolation.