Who takes the food from the restaurant to the Waymo? The restaurant employees? Or is this more akin to the drone model where a Dasher is still involved and transports the food from the restaurant to the autonomous vehicle?
Yes, most likely the restaurant employees. That's probably why they are starting with orders that are fulfilled by DoorDash employees.
From the article
> The service will begin with deliveries from DashMart, DoorDash’s owned and operated convenience, grocery, and retail store that also powers DashMart Fulfillment Services, with plans to expand over time.
Sorry, I'm confused. I think it's totally reasonable to expect the customer to pick-up the food from the Waymo by walking to it. I feel that's what you were responding to, but I'm interested in the dynamic between the restaurant and the vehicle.
It just doesn't seem like it's guaranteed that the Waymo will even have parking availability adjacent to the restaurant. It seems wholly unreasonable to expect a restaurant employee to walk an order down a block to put it in a vehicle. Imagine it's rush hour, you've got a line of customers out the door, and one of your employees is constantly having to stop working the line to shuttle orders. You'd likely have to staff with that in mind in order to support that dynamic. The current model is one where dashers wait in the restaurant and grab the bag from the "to go" counter. It would seem like the restaurant's expectation would be for that model to continue with the introduction of Waymos.
Sidewalk pickup from stores & restaurants is also a thing. You place an order, drive your car up to the restaurant, and someone brings the order up to your car. Infinitely easier than finding a parking spot and walking into the store, especially in a busy neighborhood. This is the same thing.
Hummm. Okay. I guess I'm aware of this for like, grocery pickup or calling ahead for something like a BestBuy order, but I always envisioned those things being situations where the customer parks in a parking lot out in front of the store.
When I take Waymos around SF, a really common part of the process is, upon reaching the drop-off location, the Waymo realizes there's no space, the road is too busy to comfortably double-park, and it shifts into "Looking for a spot to pull-over..." mode. It's not uncommon for it to drive a full block away from my drop-off location in order to find a safe spot.
I was applying that mindset to this situation. I agree that if they can guarantee that a Waymo is just parking/double-parking right in front of the store and all the employee has to do is take a step outside, drop it in the trunk, and shut the trunk - that that is sustainable.
