r/uberdrivers • u/Guyentertainment • 13h ago
Waymo Robotaxis Are 'Replacing Human Workers': Uber and Lyft Workers Demand a Transition Fund
https://www.techtimes.co.uk/atlanta-rideshare-drivers-demand-action-against-waymo-180852821
u/MrBrawn 11h ago
Lol. Good luck.
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u/Corey307 4h ago
Indeed. Uber drivers were all too happy to kill the taxi industry. Now they’re on the chopping block.
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u/meursaultvi 9h ago
I was shocked to see so many robotaxis in San Francisco. If I had to guess about 40% of drivers.
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u/SatisfactionActive86 6h ago
right now Uber/Lyft puts vehicle purchase, maintenance, depreciation, fuel/electricity, and a big portion of liability on to the backs of drivers; i highly doubt eliminating driver pay from the equation will ever exceed the costs they would assume by eliminating the driver (especially given how many drivers are working for free).
right now, a waymo costs like $250K to operate annually, even if they shave that down 80%, thats still a cost of $50K which most drivers are not making
add to that waymo can’t double as a food delivery vehicle since it can’t climb stairs or ride an elevator
add to that people will always be suspicious of “AI” anything, one event where a self-driving car locks the doors and holds people hostage or crashes into a wall/drives into a lake and it’s going to set them back years. it doesn’t matter if those events are statistical anomalies, they will be sensationalized.
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u/Empty-Pain-9523 5h ago
Your costs are based on the older models which had a much higher initial cost. The new gen 6 models cost around 50k, plus 20k for the sensor suite, and that cost is predicted to drop by about %50 in two years. The corporate overhead is the real killer, but as they scale up their fleet and drive more miles, that problem will fix itself.
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u/darthcaedusiiii 1h ago
Until they have a Ford level recall that knocks all their vehicles offline. Or a software glitch/hack. Then it is bankruptcy.
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u/Unique-TA 5h ago
Waymos do double as food delivery. In my time in Tempe, I'd end my weekend runs at a pizza place right on university campus, the store workers just put it in the trunk. Internationally-known party school with a healthy Greek life? Lots of food orders are now delivered by AV, even the knee-ones.
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u/GopherFawkes 4h ago
Yet waymo keeps growing and getting into more and more markets, almost as if there has been success in initial markets and a growing demand.
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u/Longjumping_Suit8314 4h ago
The new cost models are much more favorable to human driver replacement.
Also, Chinese robots that can dance and do martial arts will soon be available to deliver food.
It’s just a matter of time unless humans provide a better service and reading this subreddit thread, there is little chance of that.
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u/Gullible-Team-8588 3h ago
We can’t even get Chinese earbuds or phones( edit to add from Chinese brands that are far superior to what we have here, not stuff here made in china) here, you really think they’re gonna start using robots within the next couple years.
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u/Longjumping_Suit8314 2h ago
Waymo already importing the cheap EV minivan vehicles. These are NOT available for the general public.
If there is enough money involved, trust me, it’s going to happen. Companies can just payoff this administration to make it happen.
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u/Gullible-Team-8588 2h ago
If they could just pay some people off and get the really cool Chinese earbuds that would be nice. I don’t need a robot to deliver my food. I need the superior quality earbuds that they have.
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u/GEAUXUL 3h ago
Guys… we knew this was coming for 10 years. Uber stated from the very start that their ultimate goal was to have a driverless fleet, and now in 2026 we know that driverless technology is now good enough to implement worldwide.
You’re never going to get a transition fund, but you have been given time to transition. If you aren’t preparing for this reality, you’d better start soon. Uber is not a long term career.
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u/raymndbrr_the_third 2h ago
and now in 2026 we know that driverless technology is now good enough to implement worldwide.
Lol...no it's not.
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u/Prize-Gur706 1h ago
Everyone some how thinks that getting a CDL is the next option not realizing that it's the same thing, I'm a 20 year experienced driver laid off 3 times in 2 years. I just gave up! like the last 2 were back to back in the same year after 6 months of looking and I'm only 40 I'm expensive but you get what you pay for but the industry is in a crunch and us expensive drivers are just getting replaced by automation and lesser experienced drivers.
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u/azrolexguy 4h ago
There will only be autonomous driving in these ride share companies in as little as 5 years
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u/ohhim 4h ago
Unless Waymo can make some massive changes to their cost structure, it'll be closer to 15-20 years.
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u/azrolexguy 3h ago
You keep telling yourself that; there's zoox coming online fast and tesla robo-taxi's. There will be more participants fast.
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u/ohhim 1h ago edited 1h ago
The very first lesson I was taught in my autonomous mobile robot programming class way back in 1998 is that technologists are notorious for grossly underestimating how long it will take to have a ready-for- consumer product.
It's been 30 years since the first robotic car made it across the country 85% of the time autonomously but coding that last 15% has been notoriously tough. It's still unclear how much is being remotely navigated by off site Waymo RAs today (they have 70 remote agents for a fleet of 4000 robotaxies today) as that will have to effectively drop to zero before the 5,000,000 Uber/Lyft drivers can go away with mass adoption.
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u/Gullible_Tea_4847 4h ago edited 4h ago
Great 👍 these new AV car partners will soon learn who Uber is. I see each of these companies eliminating the middleman Uber! Just like Waymo direct.
Uber soon to become a pay phone.
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u/Federal-Net-7011 7h ago
It's to expensive to operate robotaxis. I think humans have nothing to worry about
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u/thefavoredsole 7h ago
Never underestimate the power of venture capital. Uber burnt through more investor money than any company in history. Over 30 billion dollars was spent to capture the taxi market. Look at them now. They made over 10 billion in profit last year. There's obviously money at the end of the tunnel, or these major players would not be investing. Eventually human drivers will be considered a luxury, and only the wealthy will use a chauffeur type service. thats my prediction anyways
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u/Fibrosis5O 6h ago
Nothing to worry about immediately perhaps, but nothing to worry about in a few decades? Don’t be too sure
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u/Legal-Chocolate8482 5h ago
Few decades? Did you not read the article? Uber drivers are already getting significantly less business in cities with robotaxis. Waymo already has more marketshare than all of Lyft in Atlanta and it only took a few months. The tech is here, it’s right in front of us. And Waymo has already slashed the cost of a robotaxi from $250k to $75k with new Chinese models rolled out today in Denver. They would be $35k without Chinese tariffs. And they’re backed by tens of billions in venture capital. Robotaxis will take more and more fares only leaving the most desperate of uber drivers.
Just look at China, they already have millions of cheap reliable self driving cars. The tech is already fully developed there.
No offense but idk why this sub thinks they know better than the corps around the world like Google, Amazon , Mercedes , BYD (Chinese EV company) that have invested 100s of billions into this over the last few years. If robotaxis werent viable it wouldn’t be such a hot field. The days of the rideshare driver in most cities is numbered.
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u/Corey307 4h ago
It probably won’t take decades. Waymo is already in 14 of the biggest US cities. Costs have come down big time so there’s even a chance at profitability.
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u/Legal-Chocolate8482 5h ago edited 5h ago
lol this article is literally about the fact that uber drivers in Atlanta are getting significantly less fares due to robotaxis.
Waymo also already slashed the cost of a robotaxi by over half with new Chinese made cars. Waymo rolled out these new Chinese robotaxis today in Denver, brings the cost down from $250k to $75k. And China already has fully autonomous robotaxis for just $20k. Those Waymo Chinese cars would be $35k without the Chinese tariffs. The tech will keep getting cheaper. And they’re backed by tens of billions in venture capital.
I like how this sub thinks they know the finances and tech of autonomous driving better than all these massive corps around the world that have invested 100s of billions into this and have extensively studied the finances and technology over the last 20 years.
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u/csbsju_guyyy 6h ago
Gonna be honest this is what Uber and Lyft did to taxi drivers....