Report urges ministers to act early to mitigate the effects of robotaxis on England's 417,000 taxi and private hire drivers. Report urges ministers to act early to mitigate the effects of robotaxis on England's 417,000 taxi and private hire drivers. Taxes on self-driving cars should be introduced now in the UK to offset the rise in congestion and threats to jobs they pose, a thinktank has urged. The first robotaxis on London's streets only started this month, but government projections are that up to 40% of cars sold could have self-driving capability by the middle of the next decade. The report says widespread autonomous vehicle (AV) adoption would put hundreds of thousands of private hire jobs at risk, while individual ownership is likely to increase car usage at the expense of public transport, and increase congestion.

Wayve's self-driving technology is based on an AI learning model rather than the mapping used by some rivals. Wayve's self-driving technology is based on an AI learning model rather than the mapping used by some rivals. London's first self-driving taxis for hire hit the streets Londoners are now able to hire self-driving taxis for the first time, after rides in Wayve's autonomous vehicles were added to the Uber app on Thursday. The chances of landing a robotaxi on request immediately are slim, with only 15 vehicles so far licensed. That contrasts with the more than 100,000 private hire vehicles in the capital - roughly the same number of Uber customers who have registered to take autonomous rides.

Uber launches UK's first robotaxis with a driver - here's what it's like to ride in one Londoners are able to hail the UK's first robotaxis - as Uber today becomes the first company to launch a self-driving minicab. Initially, it only has 15 autonomous vehicles with a licence to operate in the city, and each one must have a human safety driver behind the wheel ready to take control if anything goes wrong. Uber said it surveyed London-based customers via the app and more than 100,000 said they would choose a self-driving taxi if one was available, despite incidents of driverless rides malfunctioning in US cities where they already operate. As I found out when I became the first UK journalist to hail one, it was mostly smooth but the safety driver did intervene on one occasion. At the moment the UK fare for a robotaxi ride will be the same fare as a standard UberX, Uber Electric, or Uber Comfort journey, with upfront fares shown in the app.

You'll start seeing a lot more taxis in Las Vegas with no human driver behind the wheel over the coming year. The Nevada Transportation Authority has approved Tesla's, Waymo's and Uber's applications for an Autonomous Vehicle Network Company permit, which gives them the authority to offer paid rides in Clark County, including Las Vegas. Tesla investor Sawyer Merritt has reported that Nevada officials gave Tesla permission to deploy up to 5,000 robotaxis over the next 12 months after their August 20th meeting. The company's permit reportedly allows it to operate across the entire state, provided it notifies the agency that it's expanding its coverage. According to the Q&A with Tesla during the session, the company is working with law enforcement to shoot a five-minute step-by-step video first responders can follow for emergencies involving its autonomous vehicles.

Waymo has announced that it's received permission from the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to expand its robotaxi service across more counties in California. The company says the decision will allow it to offer rides in Sacramento and San Diego for the first time, and expand service in the San Francisco Bay Area and Los Angeles. As spotted by Electrek, the CPUC's approval appears to be in response to a letter Waymo filed in January asking for approval on a safety plan so it can offer rides in the expanded service area it announced in November 2025. Waymo received feedback and even at one point had its request suspended, according to the CPUC's page, but the company's announcement suggests those issues have since been resolved and just haven't been publicly recorded yet. Big news for the Golden State -- we have received the CPUC's approval to expand our autonomous ride-hailing service across the SF Bay Area and LA, and bring our service to Sacramento and San Diego.

The NHTSA recently called for autonomous vehicle companies to improve how cars respond in emergency situations. Zoox has issued a software recall for 105 of its robotaxis because of their inability to safely drive through heavy smoke. According to the company's recall report, a Zoox robotaxi interfered with an active fire emergency, prompting the company to develop a software update and issue the recall. On June 20, a Zoox robotaxi encountered heavy smoke from a fire in a traffic lane that hadn't been cordoned off with cones. The Zoox vehicle entered the scene, then braked hard while attempting to steer away before coming to a stop, Zoox's report says.

Can China repeat its EV success with robotaxis? In Beijing's Yizhuang district, driverless vehicles have become a common sight. Robotaxis weave through traffic alongside ordinary cars, while autonomous delivery vans glide along the inside lane as they carry packages to collection points. The district has become one of China's testing grounds for autonomous driving, with companies including Baidu, WeRide and Pony.ai operating commercial robotaxi services within designated areas. Booking a ride requires little more than opening an app.

The company is working on a fix and has restricted freeway driving. Waymo is recalling over 3,800 of its self-driving taxis due to a software issue that could cause them to enter closed freeway construction zones at speed, according to a National Highway Traffic Safety Admininstration (NHTSA) bulletin seen by Reuters . The company is reportedly working on a fix and has restricted freeway driving, the NHTSA safety notice states. It's not known if Waymo had an incident that prompted the recall. We identified an area of improvement regarding performance around freeway construction zones, Waymo told Engadget in a statement.

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