Because they have courtesy to not block traffic. Anecdotally, drivers are also MUCH more aggressive near them, so I’d be pretty nervous as a pedestrian getting in/out of one near heavy traffic. I’m not handicap in any way, and I’m totally fine walking to the corner of a city block to get in it, in exchange for a much safer ride than an Uber.
I’ve never had it be more than a few hundred feet - usually it’s 2-3 cars away where it can parallel park on the other side of an intersection in the WORST case. Oh I guess they do avoid some of the intense AF hills but I’ve had Uber drivers do the same.
In my experience they are very strict about finding a “safe” place to pick up and drop off, which often means turning onto a small side street or looking for a gap in parked cars. They won’t block traffic like a Lyft/Uber driver might.
The app forces you to pick locations that the car can park safely (no double parking) that's closest to the requested locations. They can be 1-2 minutes walk.
Not a big deal for us to be honest, except when going to the theaters in SF, where the car can stop a block away in sketchy Tenderloin.
Human drivers are willing to break the law for pick ups and drop offs, and as a society we largely tolerate that as long as it's not egregious in terms of safety or blocking others.
But programming a robot to deliberately break the law is uncomfortable for people to think about.
