If you’ve ever wondered what happens to all these self-driving taxis while the world sleeps, this YouTube channel has you covered. Since earlier this month, software engineer Sophia Tung has been livestreaming a San Francisco parking lot leased by Waymo to give its robot taxis a place to go during downtime.
Dong told edge The company appeared to have taken over “part of” the site on July 28, and later took over the entire site, according to emails. Waymo recently opened its robo-taxi service to everyone in San Francisco.
A few days later, she started live streaming, complete with LoFi learning beats. Tung tells us she’s running it on a mini computer with a webcam and a cereal box surrounding it to reduce glare. Now you can check what’s going on with your Waymo cars anytime, anywhere. Text superimposed on the video states that if there aren’t any Waymos in the parking lot, “the swarms will begin to move back in,” from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. PST Sunday through Thursday, or from 11 p.m. to midnight Friday and Saturday. .
As I write this, the parking lot is quiet, with only three cars parked inside. But when parking spots start to fill up (which, according to Tung, “usually happens around 4 a.m.”), a maddening ballet of automated parking — and honking sirens — begins. She said the noise lasted for up to an hour at a time before calming down.
Waymo representative Chris Bonelli said, “We are aware that under certain circumstances, our vehicles may briefly sound their horns while driving in a parking lot.” edge In an email, he added that Waymo has identified the cause of the behavior and is working to fix it.
Tong Tong, a self-proclaimed micromobility advocate, edge She thinks “people are generally confused” and she enjoys driving there. “Honestly, it’s fun to watch the cars come and go,” she said, adding, “Really all that needs to be addressed is the honking.”
