The setup at SFO is currently quite annoying (Lyft/Uber require you to walk 5 mins to the garage roof, and drivers need to park/wait 5-10 mins away, so there's always a substantial delay). Taxis get the privileged parking spot immediately outside arrivals, but if it's busy you might still need to wait a bit.

I've been wondering for a while why Waymo can't offer a semi-managed solution to SFO to dynamically manage load, have just the right volume of cars inbound, maximize parking utilization, etc. with all of the nice intelligence that an app-based system would enable.

It feels like you should be able to have a buffer of cars waiting right at the curbside, and automatically refill that buffer on short notice depending on observed or predicted demand.

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eclipticplane 3 days ago | parent | next [-]

As an Uber rider, I actually love the SFO setup. The walk is short enough, there's actually enough space even during most busy times that there's no crazy honking of drivers trying to get in or out of the pickup zone.

Compare that to the mess that is Uber pickups at JFK, where you have big delays _and_ very poor traffic controls in and out of the pickup zones.

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vidro3 3 days ago | parent [-]

LGA does it way better, but the walk is a bit longer.

	▲	cguess a day ago \| parent [-]
		It's a three minute walk out the door of Terminal B at LGA, directly into the parking structure.

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star-glider 3 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Taxis have a powerful local lobby; Google/Waymo doesn't.

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Thorrez 3 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

>I've been wondering for a while why Waymo can't offer a semi-managed solution to SFO to dynamically manage load, have just the right volume of cars inbound, maximize parking utilization, etc. with all of the nice intelligence that an app-based system would enable.

Uber could in theory do all those same things too, right?

	▲	theptip 2 days ago \| parent [-]
		To some extent, but I think it’s easier to have fully automated buffering if you physically control the cars. Eg you can have backup vehicles parked indefinitely nearby if you want, whereas there will always be some unpredictable churn from human drivers eg unexpectedly clocking off. No idea if these are first-order effects in practice.

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tomduncalf 3 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I’ve never had to wait more than 5 minutes at SFO I don’t think and the system seems ok to me

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grogenaut 3 days ago | parent | prev [-]

counter point, I love the taxi setup, I wander out, no pre-planning, walk across the street with my headpones on and get in a car, my company pays for it. I suually pay more on uber or lyft, and it's faster and I don't do anything but walk from the plane to the car

	▲	a2128 3 days ago \| parent [-]
		I did this in Eastern Europe one time, ended up being made to pay 60€ for a ride that's 10€ on a ridesharing app (even with the "licensed taxi" option...) When there's reasonable price controls it is convenient though