Gregory's Server@docpop It is too complicated to write it off as purely to save money on parking. It could be rebalancing the cars from popular drop off areas to popular pickup areas to minimize delays. The same way you’ll often have many empty buses on return trips during rush hour.
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@docpop I am sure that plays a major role in it. Does SF have parking metering infrastructure that would allow the car to accurately pay for street parking? I could also see people getting fairly upset if you have a lot of self-driving cars parked in a busy area making parking harder for cars driven by people. I'd expect Waymo and others to use private lots to sidestep those issues when they need to park.  @LogicalApex we do have a new parking metering system in the city, so that should be doable. There are also several private lots where these cars park overnight or for cleaning/maintenance. I think the struggle here is not in figuring how to park these cars, but in discouraging their constant use when there is no demand. Cruise wants to add thousands of cars to our streets and the low cost of operations favors keeping those cars on the road as much as possible, even when there is no demand. |
@LogicalApex I totally agree there are secondary benefits to keeping these cars on the roads such as collecting data, moving cars to destinations where there might be pick ups in the future, and arguably even free advertising, but my friends in the industry say that the main purpose of deadheading is to save money.