Are robotaxis the future? Or instead, the past?
Are robotaxis the future? Or instead, the past?
This page shows all the articles on Robotaxi.rodeo with the most recents ones first. Select an article below, or select a specific topic to browse using the menu above.
NYC StreetsBlog talks with the experts behind the recent The Future of Transportation seminar. Key point is whether we are currently even asking the right questions about robotaxi safety. After all, Oslo and Helsinki both had zero fatalities last year and they managed to do so without a single robotaxi.
SF Chronicle publishes a marketing piece for Waymo as an op-ed. William Riggs, the author, is paid by Waymo and other robotaxi companies to do their bidding. Not stating that William Riggs is funded by robotaxi companies is journalistic malpractice by the newspaper.
StreetsBlog NYC reports that despite claims by Waymos, their robotaxis mean more cars rather than fewer. They encourage riders to not just take Waymos, but also other ride hail vehicles. The result is less transit usage and more congestion.
A More Perfect Union created an excellent short video on the ramifications on workers if robotaxis are widely adopted. The situation is grim.
SF Chronicle reports on potential California legislation Bill 1246 that would require a local technician for every three autonomous vehicles. Industry lobbyists for Waymo of course bitched an moaned and went all apocalyptic.
East Bay Times reports on new potential California legislation that would require to have adequate local technicians, one for every three self-driving cars. This is due to the disaster traffic jams that Waymo robotaxis caused during the San Francisco power outage in December '25.
TechCrunch reports that an AVRide autonomous vehicle drove over and killed a mother duck - and Austinites are rightfully outraged.
Sam Schwartz and Kelly McGuinness report in StreetsBlog NYC on how that now Waymo robotaxis are paused that this is an opportune time to look into whether robotaxis are useful in the first place. A key point is that if safety is the goal then clearly public transit should be promoted instead.
SF Examiner reports on the new Zeekr vehicles that Waymo wants to use. Though since there is currently a 100% tariff on importing Chinese vehicles into the US, these vehicles are likely to not be a widespread solution due to their cost.
The City reports that Waymo's permits to test some of their robotaxis in New York City has ended. And their permission to run vehicles in the state of New York has reached a dead end. NYC is simply not read for robotaxis, given they have far more cars there than is useful. It appears Waymo never expected to hit such a speed bump in their deployment.
NY Times reports on how Baidu had a major outage in Wuhan, stranding passengers in the middle of busy streets and even causing at least one collision. In fact, robotaxis from China have had a very questionable safety record.
Wired reports that Tesla acknowledges that their "robotaxis" are sometimes actually driven by humans. This is of course not a surprise given the Tesla Optimus robots are known to actually be just teleoperated puppets. Certainly is peculiar that the company is valued at $1.4T based on robotaxis and humanoid robots.
Waymo completely blocks a major transit line during rush hour
Benzinga reports that the California Public Utilities Commission has declared that Tesla does not have true autonomous capability and therefore does not have an actual robotaxi system. Whoops. You can always count on Elon to not speak the truth.
404 Media reports that a food delivery clanker shattered the glass on a bus shelter and then spread the shards all over the sidewalk. Also note that Chicagoans definitely not into food delivery clankers.
