AUSTIN (KXAN) — This year marks a decade since the world’s first fully autonomous vehicle (AV) ride took a solo passenger down a public road, a success realized in Austin’s Mueller neighborhood.
Today, over one hundred self-driving cars roam city roadways for the public’s rideshare use.
The road to roll out “robotaxis” in Austin has not always been smooth. Amid the successes have arisen safety concerns and public skepticism that have driven companies back to the drawing board or off the roads altogether.
Yet the local autonomous vehicle industry continues to scale. President and Chief Operating Officer of Uber Andrew Macdonald cited “friendly local and state governments that are welcoming to innovation” as big attractors for AV pioneers.
Six AV operators are currently recognized by the city. Ten years since automobile automation arrived in Austin, we take a trip down memory lane to document the history of AVs in Austin.
2015: A taste of tomorrow
Before Google’s self-driving car project became Waymo, the initiative successfully took Steve Mahan down a public street in a driverless car in September 2015.
It was a major win for autonomous vehicle innovation worldwide, but it was also life-changing for Mahan, who is legally blind and had not ridden alone in a car in 12 years.
The milestone moment gave Austin one of its first glimpses into what the AV industry could become, as well as the services and benefits it could provide the public.
2017: AV Regulation takes shape
Texas Senate Bill 2205 went into effect in September 2017, defining regulations for autonomous vehicles.
The law states that AVs must adhere to the same regulations as cars with drivers, such as insurance and registration, obey all traffic and motor vehicle laws, and be equipped with a recording device.
SB 2205 also preempts local entities from regulating AVs, putting franchising and regulation authority in the hands of the state.
2019: Driverless drought
The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) created the Connected and Autonomous Vehicle (CAV) Task Force in 2019 as a centralized hub of information regarding CAV advancement in the state.
In Austin, however, AV development slowed when Waymo removed its driverless vehicles from the roads.
Although testing of the self-driving cars had continued in the city since the big 2015 breakthrough, the company opted to concentrate its development in Phoenix and Detroit, as reported by CNBC.
2022: The revolving door begins
In Waymo’s absence, a partnership with Ford, Volkswagen, Lyft and Walmart helped Argo AI launch a fleet of 20 AVs onto Austin roads in March 2022.
The cars shuttled human passengers and completed mobile delivery orders for customers.
Soon after launch, in September, Ford announced the dissolution of Argo AI due to dismal profitability outlooks. The automotive company shifted its focus from fully autonomous vehicles to partially autonomous driver-assist systems.
That same month, however, General Motors’ Cruise announced its intention to bring AVs to Austin.
2023: Cruise comes to town… and abruptly leaves
Cruise soft-launched driverless rides to a limited number of Austin riders in January 2023.
A highly anticipated opening of the services to the broader public mid-year was overshadowed by a series of mishaps involving the vehicles.
From July to October that year, the City of Austin’s Autonomous Vehicle Incidents Dashboard recorded 53 reported incidents involving Cruise vehicles.
From public nuisance complaints and blocking traffic to near misses and collisions, Cruise stopped all driverless operations in Austin. The company announced its decision to “reflect on how we can better operate in a way that will earn public trust” in October 2023.
2024: Cruise comeback?
After a chaotic stint in Austin, Cruise resumed vehicle testing in Dallas, Houston and Phoenix in June 2024.
The company announced a partnership with Uber to make driverless rideshare services more widely available in August, but prior to that, competitor Waymo officially deployed its own autonomous vehicles in Austin for testing.
In December, General Motors announced that it would no longer fund Cruise operations and would instead pivot to focus on bringing full automation to personal vehicles.
2025: Where we are and what’s next
Back in March, Waymo Ones officially became available to Austin customers through the Uber app.
The initial 37-square-mile coverage zone was expanded to 90 square miles in July, allowing passengers to traverse from north Austin to south Austin.
In June, Tesla’s full self-driving (FSD) mode was put to the test by the Dawn Project. The organization, whose mission aims to raise awareness about and eliminate technological shortcomings, tested Tesla’s automated driving software against school bus stop signs and child-sized manikins.
The test site was familiar—Mueller—but the Teslas failed all six repetitions of the test, hitting the would-be child and driving away.
Nonetheless, Elon Musk launched driverless ride services to a small circle of invited Austin passengers later that month. Tesla Model Ys are used as robotaxis and reportedly use a newer FSD build than the version available in personal vehicles, but it is unclear how the new technology differs.
According to NBC, Tesla’s AVs came under public scrutiny for safety-related incidents posted to social media within the first few days after launch.
Tesla has not yet expanded self-driving rideshares to the Austin public at large, but testing on local roadways continues. No comment from the company has been made about a potential time frame for a full-scale launch, so Waymo’s Jaguar I-PACE vehicles are currently the only city-recognized AV rideshares available for Austinites’ use.
As for the future of driverless cars in Austin, Macdonald says high consumer demand and a tech-friendly environment mean “all the ingredients are there” for Austin to remain on the cutting-edge of autonomous vehicle technology.
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