Comment by bojan

> Waymo is a sort of public transit.

Definitely, and at no cost to taxpayers.

> It's just an vastly more inefficient than any other form of public transit

Waymo is less efficient in the narrow case of transporting hundreds of people between two specific points at a specific time, but more efficient for almost every other case.

If Waymo had dedicated right-of-way in the same way trains do, it would be more efficient.

Depends on your definition of efficiency. Any ride service will drive more miles thus resulting in more congestion and more energy use than personal vehicles, because in addition to driving from point A1 to B1, they have to drive from B1 to A2. They get closer with density but never match. They will also always be more expensive to operate per mile because you need to cover the cost of the driver (human or machine).

The flip side is drastically fewer parking spaces needed, most of which can be located outside of the city core. And decreased costs due to fewer accidents.

Or, more neutrally, a different tradeoff point between mass transit and personal cars.