It is easier to *teach a machine to drive in a **city** without human intervention* than it is to allocate cars to riders without spending half the miles empty.
Economics is hard.
New research examines Waymo's California robotaxi trips btw Aug 2023 and Dec 2025.
Conclusion: 46% of miles driven involved no one inside the car.
That's 40 million miles of deadheading, with Waymo vehicles using road space w/o transporting a human.
doi.org/10.32866/001...
