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Tesla began Robotaxi rides in San Antonio at 5 a.m. on Monday, its eighth market and fifth in Texas. Not a Tesla App measures the service area at roughly 275 square miles — Tesla's largest at launch — served by Model Ys. TechCrunch reports Tesla gave no details on fleet size, operating hours or whether safety monitors ride along.
Why it matters: San Antonio was on Tesla's 'coming soon' list just three weeks ago, so this is a promise kept — but a big map with an undisclosed fleet says little about how easy it is to actually get a ride.
TechCrunch · 2026-11-09
02
NHTSA opened a recall query covering 2,895 Waymo vehicles to review whether the software update from Waymo's December 2025 recall stopped its cars from illegally passing stopped school buses. Reuters reports most of the violations happened after Waymo said the remedy was fully deployed; Austin ISD documented 19 violations and Atlanta public schools six more.
Why it matters: A recall query can end in a new recall, and school-bus behavior is the safety issue most likely to move local politicians against robotaxis.
Reuters via Investing.com · 2026-11-09
03
Tesla launched Robotaxi rides in Fort Worth on November 2 with no human safety monitor in the vehicle, covering about 143 square miles with Model Ys. A week later the Robotaxi Tracker community site counted 24 Tesla vehicles there, according to TechCrunch.
Why it matters: Fort Worth is a separate service zone from Dallas, giving Tesla two driverless footprints in the same metro — though 24 cars across 143 square miles is thin coverage.
Not a Tesla App · 2026-11-02
04
NHTSA's special order asked Tesla to show under oath, across 21 questions, that the steering-wheel-free Cybercab meets federal safety standards. Tesla met the October 30 deadline with a one-page letter stating that 'the entirety of this file is confidential business information'; Electrek reports NHTSA has not yet ruled on the request, and the probe covers about 1,000 vehicles.
Why it matters: Whether the Cybercab is legally compliant decides how fast Tesla can scale it, and full confidentiality would leave the public without the evidence either way.
Electrek · 2026-11-05
05
Waymo co-CEO Tekedra Mawakana confirmed that from January 2028 riders in Austin and Atlanta will be able to book Waymo through its own app, ending Uber's exclusive arrangement in those cities. She called the Uber experience 'a little bit of a crapshoot' for riders; Uber said it still plans to offer Waymo rides on its app for as long as both companies agree.
Why it matters: Owning the rider relationship is how Waymo controls pricing, service quality and data — and it signals that platform partners are a bridge, not the destination.
TechCrunch · 2026-11-04
06
Waymo will run closed-course evaluations in Fairbanks, Alaska, and collect heavy-snowfall data with its Ojai and Hyundai IONIQ vehicles, Gov. Mike Dunleavy said. No fleet size or test duration was disclosed.
Why it matters: Snow and ice are the biggest unsolved barrier to robotaxis in northern cities, and Denver this winter will be Waymo's first real public test of it.
Fox Weather · 2026-11-05
07
Denver police say neither state law nor city ordinance offers a way to cite a driverless vehicle for a traffic violation, so they have issued no citations or warnings to Waymo vehicles. The city is exploring rules that would let police ticket a vehicle's registered owner, and a state lawmaker is weighing legislation for next session.
Why it matters: California and Tennessee have already closed this gap, and more cities are likely to follow as robotaxi fleets grow.
Denver Gazette · 2026-11-02