Driverless Taxis in NYC: Concerns for Taxi Drivers? Give Me a Break...

Waymo's Robotaxis in Sydney? More Like a Robot-Apocalypse Preview

Oh, great. Just what we needed. Google's little science experiment, Waymo, is eyeing Sydney now? Seriously? After unleashing those soulless, self-driving pods on San Francisco and watching the city slowly descend into a tech-bro dystopia, they figure it's time to spread the "joy" Google wants to bring its driverless taxis to Sydney’s streets?

Transport for NSW is actually ENTERTAINING this? I mean, come on.

Level four autonomy, they're calling it. "Fully driverless operation requiring no human supervision." Sounds fantastic on paper, right? Like some Jetsons fantasy come to life. But let's be real: it's just another step toward automating ourselves out of existence. And who benefits? Not the working stiffs, that's for damn sure.

The Human Cost of "Innovation"

Remember those schmucks who bought taxi medallions in San Francisco, thinking they were investing in their future? Now they're drowning in debt because Waymo's eating their lunch. Evelyn Engel from the San Francisco Taxi Workers Alliance says it all: "They [taxi drivers] are struggling and exhausted." Yeah, no kidding.

And Waymo's response? Crickets. No comment. Figures.

It's the same old story: tech companies promising the moon while lining their pockets and leaving a trail of broken dreams in their wake. "Innovation," they call it. I call it a goddamn tragedy.

And don't even get me started on the "benefits" for passengers. Engel nails it again: "the cost of a Waymo ride is higher than an Uber or Lyft and the ETA is generally longer.” So, you pay more for a slower, less human experience? Where's the upside? Oh, right, you don't have to make small talk with a driver. Progress!

New York, New York, a City That...Maybe Can't Handle Robots?

Waymo’s already sniffing around New York City too. And that’s where things get REALLY interesting.

Graham Hodges, a history professor who actually drove a yellow cab back in the day, sums it up perfectly: “I think it [Waymo] is kind of a rich guy’s fantasy.” He’s right. New York ain’t San Francisco. It's a chaotic, beautiful, messy ecosystem of yellow cabs, delivery bikes, and pedestrians who seem to have a death wish. Throwing a bunch of driverless cars into that mix? It's like pouring gasoline on a dumpster fire.

And what about the taxi drivers themselves? Close to 90% of them are immigrants in NYC, just trying to make a living Waymo’s Self-Driving Cars Hit NYC Streets, Sparking Concerns for Taxi Drivers. Anshu Gaba, a yellow cab driver for 28 years, lost his savings when Uber came along. Now he’s facing another potential wipeout? This is a bad idea. No, "bad" doesn't cover it—this is a five-alarm dumpster fire.

I mean, isn't this what Zohran Mamdani was fighting against? The new mayor went on a hunger strike to help those drivers! Is he really going to let Waymo steamroll them now that he's in City Hall?

Offcourse, Waymo’s already greasing the wheels with lobbyists. $108,000 spent in 2023 alone to schmooze DOT officials. Because that’s how “democracy” works these days, right?

Then again, maybe I’m just a grumpy old Luddite clinging to the past. Maybe self-driving cars really are the future. Maybe they'll solve all our traffic problems and save us from ourselves.

Yeah, and maybe pigs will fly.

Wake Me Up When the Robots Revolt