Tesla Expands Robotaxi Service to the San Francisco Bay Area

Tesla will start its robotaxi pilot in the San Francisco Bay Area this weekend. This is the next step after its first pilot in Austin. Some Tesla owners got invites on Friday to join the paid ride-hailing service.

The service will cover a large area: Marin County, much of the East Bay, San Francisco, and San Jose. Many Tesla vehicles and company offices are located in these regions.

This pilot will use safety monitors who sit in the driver’s seat. These drivers can take control of the car by using the steering wheel and brakes if needed. California requires this at the moment. The California DMV said they have met with Tesla, but Tesla has not yet filed for a permit to run completely driverless cars.

Tesla’s plans for expansion

Tesla’s VP of Autopilot and AI Software, Ashok Elluswamy, spoke about these plans in the second quarter earnings call. He shared that the next step is to bring robotaxis with safety monitors to the Bay Area before going fully autonomous. He said: “The next thing to expand would be in the San Francisco Bay Area. We are working with the government to get approval here and, in the meanwhile, launch the service without the person in the driver seat just to expedite and while we wait for regulatory approval.”

Regulation and next moves

California has strict rules for self-driving vehicles. With safety monitors in place, Tesla starts the service while still following current state laws. This way, Tesla can collect data and see how the service works for real customers before the state allows full driverless operation.

The Austin pilot worked with driverless cars, but the Bay Area will begin with safety monitors. Tesla is using a step-by-step approach that matches what different states allow.

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