Self-driving
Tesla began Robotaxi rides in Austin for a limited group of Tesla fans, at a flat $4.20 a ride, with a Tesla safety monitor in the front passenger seat.
A dated step forward on the record · Sets Tesla Robotaxi's stage
What the source says
“Many livestreams show the safety monitor gripping a handle on the right side of the passenger seat, possibly with emergency controls.”
What it means
Tesla Robotaxi, from Tesla, is at stage 4 of 5 on our ladder: paying customers. This event is one of the milestones that placed it there.
Human help: A staff member rides along, ready to stop it.
More on Tesla Robotaxi
- Robotaxi Tracker's creator found Tesla's Robotaxi app refused pickups in parts of downtown Houston inside its newly expanded service area, and one quoted trip took about 40 minutes for two blocks, Electrek reported.
- Tesla widened its Houston Robotaxi service area to about 254 square miles, roughly 10 times the launch zone, while a crowdsourced tracker counted only 34 driverless Model Ys there.
- NHTSA, the US road-safety agency, was weighing an investigation into claims that Tesla Robotaxis speed through active school zones, covering about 1,000 Model Y and Cybercab vehicles.
- Rider app screenshots showed Tesla's Austin Robotaxi service area stretched around the Formula 1 track for race weekend, with ride requests open until 1 a.m., Teslarati reported.
- Tesla said its Robotaxi service had driven nearly 2 million miles in total with no one supervising by the end of the third quarter of 2026.
- Tesla said its Robotaxi fleet drove 438,000 miles in Austin with no safety monitor aboard in the week ending October 18, up 30% from the week before.