Smooth, Punctual, Easy — 3rd, 4th, & 5th Waymo Experiences

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When my daughter and I visited San Francisco, Waymo (it was our first experience with it) turned out to be a reliable mode of transportation. We mostly appreciated our visit as pedestrians. The city has a lot of walking areas. But one day we walked 19,000 steps around Golden Gate Park, which was lush and alive with spectacular lily pads, dahlias, and bison. It was just too far to walk both ways to and from our flat, as well. So, we decided to use a Waymo.

Let me begin by describing our walk into Golden Gate Park, staying on the subject of climate change and our support for clean technology as a solution. Many cities with high income disparities do not prioritize climate education for their inhabitants. Or they even deny climate change. Not all are created equal, and while San Francisco is undoubtedly wonderful for the wealthy, it may be less so for the service workers they employ.

Yet, Golden Gate Park is educational for all who visit. For those who are unaware, the placards on one side of the walk-in demonstrate possible changes with adequate climate change solutions. And on the other side, they show likely outcomes without adequate climate change action — the results of an excessive status quo. No denial. No blinders.

I come from a naturalist part of the country where I often visit parks in the wilderness or the beautifully cultivated green much like the San Francisco park offers, but this experience stands apart as something different. My shoulders drop. I breathe. People at this park collectively agree to be in present-time with climate change. Not so much in my area. We are polite. We respect to some degree each other’s differences. Yet, this is a consciousness we do not collectively enjoy. It is relaxing, not because we are safer, climate-wise. It is safer just to be present with the situation — out of other delusions and denials. It is kind in a different way than polite.

Golden Gate Park, San Francisco. Images by Cynthia Shahan | CleanTechnica.

Entering Golden Gate Park reveals the park’s communal consciousness, and possibly the city’s. A series of posters along the lovely bike and pedestrian trails describe prospective outcomes in the coming decades. On one side, you can see what happens when careful planning is done to balance emissions. The opposing viewpoint demonstrates what will happen when the current status quo is maintained and climate calamities are progressively experienced.

We used Waymo to return home. It was a busy day at the park, with a music venue headliner planned for the same day. Crowds raise demand and prices. The cost of getting back from the park was double that of arriving by Waymo. My daughter searched for a Lyft/Uber to compare. Yet she couldn’t find one. We enjoyed Waymo more at this point anyway. (One reason: the smell; no fragrant car deodorizers.)

“Technology comes about slowly, it seems, and then boom, it’s here,” Mira remembered a speaker at a cleantech conference in Florida saying several years ago. Life is smoothly proving this to be so true. She has now happily been the restful passenger of an invisible driver.

Returning to Waymo, she confirmed that we have five minutes from the time it arrives to find it, so I suggested waiting (to call Waymo until we were at the pickup spot). Gen Y had the app, though, so the Boomer had to hustle. She called it and said we had 2 minutes before it arrived. We dashed along two or three longish blocks to the Waymo, which arrived in two minutes and patiently waited for us. So, rather than lingering or walking for a long time to find another option, we were quickly on our way, even on a busy day in Golden Gate Park.

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We all recognized at that moment that, despite not having been overly concerned going into it, we felt in fact more secure than expected. The feeling of well-being in traffic was easy for us all. We observed how completely secure we felt while Waymo handled the vehicle’s navigation with apparent skill and timing amidst surprise elements. Image by Cynthia Shahan | CleanTechnica.

This ride home was just as pleasant and seamless as the previous four we had taken since arriving in the city. There is a measurable quietness with the lack of human driving. Not to mention the conversations about what route to take, which is the stop, and all kinds of helpful back seat driving. The AI system has it smoothly under control. Everyone gets to follow the scenery, and the music is sublimely classical.