Comment by steveBK123 2 days ago
Robotaxis are a pleasant experience now partially because, like early zipcar, it's mostly richer nerds using the service.
Over time they are going to run into all the problems of public infrastructure in low trust places like NYC where, unattended, you will have people use the backseat as a dining room, smoking lounge, bar and toilet. Time will tell how they deal with bad riders.
Sure, for public infrastructure where the provider is legally limited in the ways it can limit access. If the claim is there literally aren't nice spaces in New York City, or any American city, you haven't been there.
I've lived in NYC 20 years. Unstaffed stuff left unattended just doesn't work.
Zipcars & Cars2Go turned into wrecks precisely because there were no prying eyes at pickup or drop-off. I stopped using them after the 5th consecutive trashed car. Reporting it to support would garner a $10 refunds. Clearly the repercussions for bad customers were not strong.
> Time will tell how they deal with bad riders
Kick them out. Identity is tied to a credit card and a smartphone, after all.