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Robotaxis & Self-Driving: News, Safety Data and Explainers

Coverage of Waymo, Tesla, Zoox and Chinese robotaxi operators: where driverless rides are available, what the safety data shows and how regulators are responding.

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What we cover in Robotaxis & Self-Driving

Robotaxis are ride-hailing cars that drive with no one at the wheel. They have moved from pilot projects into regular paid service in a growing list of US cities. This section tracks where those services run and who operates them. It follows how the safety evidence holds up and how the rules are changing. It covers Waymo, Tesla, Zoox and the Chinese operators Baidu Apollo Go, Pony.ai and WeRide. It also explains the line between driver-assistance features in consumer cars and vehicles that drive themselves.

Scale is the first story. Waymo, majority-owned by Alphabet, went from three cities in September 2024 to 15 two years later. It added Las Vegas in September 2026. TechCrunch puts its fleet at roughly 4,000 robotaxis. TechCrunch reported on September 1, 2026, that Tesla was charging for driverless Model Y rides in six Texas and Florida cities. Service was limited in some, it said. Days later Tesla put its Cybercab, which has no steering wheel or pedals, on Austin streets, and federal regulators opened an investigation into how the vehicle was certified. Amazon-owned Zoox began charging for rides in Las Vegas on August 10, 2026. That came after the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) granted a temporary exemption for Zoox's purpose-built vehicle.

Safety evidence is the second. Waymo's own data hub reports 82% fewer injury-causing crashes than human drivers over 271.3 million driverless miles through June 2026. But that comparison is produced by the company and depends on its methodology. NHTSA collects crash reports from operators. It cautions that the counts are not adjusted for miles driven. Articles in this section say who produced each figure and give a date for every city list.

Robotaxis & Self-Driving reference

Robotaxis & Self-Driving: common questions

Is Waymo safer than human drivers?
Waymo's own data says yes for the cities it covers. Over 271.3 million driverless miles through June 2026, the company reports 82% fewer injury-causing crashes than an average human driver in the same areas. It also reports 95% fewer crashes involving serious injury or worse. The analysis is Waymo's, built from its reports to federal regulators and police-reported data for human drivers. It covers surface streets only. Waymo says it lacks the mileage to show a statistically significant difference in fatal crashes alone.
Is Tesla's robotaxi fully autonomous?
Only within limits. TechCrunch reported on September 1, 2026, that Tesla charged for driverless Model Y rides in Austin, Dallas, Houston, Miami, Orlando and Tampa. It said Tesla had pulled safety monitors from most of its robotaxis only weeks earlier. The cars stay inside a geofenced area in each city. Tesla's Full Self-Driving (Supervised) software for car owners is driver assistance that leaves responsibility with the driver. California DMV lists dated September 17, 2026, show Tesla permitted only to test with a safety driver.
Where can you ride a robotaxi?
In the United States, as of mid-September 2026, Waymo offered rides in 15 markets. They were Phoenix, the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, Austin, Atlanta, Miami, Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, Orlando, Nashville, Denver, San Diego, Tampa and Las Vegas. Access was by invitation in the four newest. Tesla operated in parts of six Texas and Florida cities, TechCrunch reported. Zoox has charged for rides in Las Vegas since August 10, 2026. In early August its San Francisco and Austin rides were free.
Are Waymos cheaper than Uber?
Not according to a 2025 comparison in San Francisco. TechCrunch reported on an analysis by pricing aggregator Obi. Obi analyzed nearly 90,000 fare offers collected between March 25 and April 25, 2025. It found an average Waymo price of $20.43, compared with $15.58 for Uber and $14.44 for Lyft, TechCrunch said. Obi also found that Waymo's prices varied more than its rivals'. That is a single-city snapshot from 2025. It predates Waymo's 2026 expansion.

Sources

  1. Waymo Safety Impact, Waymo
  2. Standing General Order on Crash Reporting, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
  3. Trump's Transportation Department Cuts Red Tape to Safely Fast-Track Automated Vehicle Innovation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
  4. Autonomous Vehicle Permit Holders, California Department of Motor Vehicles
  5. Waymo opens robotaxi service in Las Vegas, TechCrunch
  6. Waymo accelerates robotaxi expansion with launches in Denver, San Diego, and Tampa, TechCrunch
  7. Waymo is scaling fast: Here's what the fleet data shows, TechCrunch
  8. Waymo restarts San Antonio service 5 months after flooding troubles, TechCrunch
  9. Waymo goes on offense ahead of Tesla's Cybercab launch, TechCrunch
  10. The Cybercab is Tesla's 'fork in the road' moment, TechCrunch
  11. Feds launch investigation into Tesla's Cybercab deployment, TechCrunch
  12. Amazon's Zoox expands its robotaxi service to Las Vegas airport, TechCrunch
  13. Zoox to start charging for robotaxi rides in Las Vegas, TechCrunch
  14. Waymo rides cost more than Uber or Lyft -- and people are paying anyway, TechCrunch