California’s new robotaxi regulations
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Join us for CoMotion LA ‘26 this November 18-19: Cities on the Move: Mega-events, AI & Shaping What’s Next — featuring the OMF Summit Track.
A realistic robotaxi future includes smart regulatory reform. Not just removing regulations that inhibit autonomous vehicles, but new rules that hold AVs to high standards so that they can earn the public’s trust. For instance: the bill signed into law by California Gov. Gavin Newsom, which requires AV companies to promptly report and address malfunctions or crashes.
Meanwhile, in Texas, a state known for a much lighter regulatory touch, Tesla’s Cybercab is gradually growing but still lagging behind Waymo and mighty IKEA has is embracing fully driverless freight trucking.
What you need to know
California adopts new robotaxi penalties: Gov. Gavin Newsom signs into law a number of new regulations for robotaxi operators. The bill requires that AV firms immediately notify local governments if there is an outage, crash or incident blocking traffic or emergency access and be able to immediately dispatch workers to the site to deal with the issue. It also requires workers with remote access to the vehicles to be based in the U.S. Finally, the law establishes fines of up to $10,000 per vehicle if it disrupts an emergency response operation.
DoorDash’s new drone: Two months after receiving FAA certification for drone delivery, DoorDash unveils a purpose-built delivery drone, “designed for the hardest part of autonomous delivery: the first and last ten feet.”
IKEA goes driverless: Kodiak AI, the Silicon Valley autonomous trucking startup, has been hauling IKEA goods between Dallas and Houston for the past four years, but going forward there will no longer be a safety driver on board. In May Pittsburgh-based Aurora Innovation, began making fully driverless deliveries on the same route for distribution giant McLane.
Building the Curb of the Future with Gene Oh
The curb is under more demand than ever - cyclists need a place to park, vehicles need a place to charge, and AVs suddenly need a place to stop. But the curbs we have are far from the curbs we need: so how do we get there? On this episode, host Nick Perloff-Giles sits down with Gene Oh, CEO of Tranzito, the Bay Area-based urban mobility and smart city operator that specializes in curbside management, secure bike parking, and multimodal transportation infrastructure, to discuss the opportunities for curbs ahead, and the challenges that lie in between.
The Cybercab at one month: A month after debuting the Cybercab in Austin, Tesla now has four times as many of the purpose-built robotaxis authorized for use in Texas. But its 169 vehicles, only currently operating in Austin, are still way behind Waymo’s 1,159 in the Lone Star State. And the Cybercab service has thus far gotten mixed reviews, with complaints about long waits and drop offs in the wrong place. Tesla boosters say the company is simply being cautious.
Just 6 weeks to go until CoMotion LA ‘26, November 18-19!
We have some great news: LA Metro, SCAG, HNTB, OMF, Elavon, WSP, Zoox, Alstom, Red Hat, Waymo, Paybyphone, Lime, Arup, Uber, Brompton Bicycles, Doordash, Wing, Serve Robotics, Spain Investment & Trade, Flanders, Choose Paris Region, and many more have confirmed their participation for this year’s tenth edition.
LA is making decisions now about curbs, transit integration, and autonomous deployment, with the '28 Games as the deadline. Autonomy has the potential to fundamentally reshape every aspect of a city’s urban form, from curbs to real estate to streets, but how much can deployments scale? As electrification, autonomy, and shared mobility move into wider deployment, the next five years will test which innovations can deliver both durable investment returns and lasting public benefit.
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Austin gets sued over Tesla: Austin environmental group Save Our Springs has filed suit against the city of Austin, demanding it release water usage records linked to a Tesla data center. The Tesla brand has already tanked with liberals, but contempt for data centers has become one of the few things shared by both sides of America’s polarized political culture.
Fuel inefficiency is official: The Trump administration officially reverses the ambitious fuel efficiency standards put in place by the Biden administration. Automakers will only be required to achieve an average fuel mileage of 34.9 miles per gallon, a 33% drop from from the previous 50.4 mpg standard. The Biden rules amounted to a requirement that automakers transition to EVs, whereas the new rules accommodate Detroit’s retreat from electrification.
What we’re reading
Solving the housing shortage is a force multiplier: New research by the American Federation of Scientists describes addressing America’s housing shortage as key to community resilience in the era of climate change. Putting more housing in “lower-hazard established neighborhoods” near jobs and services will cut housing costs, stabilize insurance markets and, last but not least, reduce carbon emissions.
