This week’s edition is brought to you by Virewirx. Enable full autonomy with Virewirx’s VX60, a high-performance 60 GHz wireless system for fast and scalable robotaxi data movement.
Top Story of the Week
D.C. Council Members Vote Down Self-Driving Cars, for Now (link).
D.C. Council members Charles Allen and Christina Henderson voted for the bill on Thursday, while Zachary Parker, Elissa Silverman and Mayor-elect Janeese Lewis George voted against. In a symbolic move, as the bill would have failed regardless, council Chair Phil Mendelson — who’s allowed to vote in any committee — popped in to vote “yes.” Though lawmakers shared a general sense of support for autonomous vehicles, they disagreed about when they should be rolled out and under what conditions.
My take: A bit embarrassing for D.C., to be honest. The District first passed AV legislation back in 2012, and nearly 15 years later, it still can’t agree on a framework for commercial driverless operations.
Meanwhile, Waymo is providing more than 500,000 paid rides per week and operating in 15 U.S. cities, with its latest safety data showing 82% fewer injury-causing crashes compared to human drivers in its established markets.
And it’s not like the proposed D.C. legislation was a free-for-all either; in fact, it was restrictive from the AV industry’s perspective. The bill included collective bargaining rights for rideshare drivers and AV maintenance workers, a fund to help displaced drivers, wheelchair-accessibility requirements, extensive safety and reporting provisions, and an 800-vehicle cap across all operators (just 200 per company). That vehicle cap is a low ceiling, considering Waymo already operates more than 1,000 robotaxis in the San Francisco Bay Area alone.
There are legitimate concerns about job displacement and how AVs should be regulated, but this seemed like a reasonable, cautious approach to deployment. At some point, continuing to delay has costs of its own, particularly when the technology is already operating at scale elsewhere.
Uber’s new parking feature has a robotaxi twist (link).
Uber says it plans to explore using parking facilities in the SpotHero network as staging areas for idle robotaxis. Instead of cruising city streets between fares, autonomous vehicles could wait in garages or lots until they’re summoned.
My Take: I’m bearish on Uber’s acquisition of SpotHero since Uber is the app people use when they do not want to drive. So I’m not convinced parking reservations are a natural fit. Just because both businesses involve cars doesn’t mean they belong together. By that logic, Uber could also get into gas stations, car insurance, or auto repairs. I’m sure there’s some customer overlap, but that alone doesn’t make this a compelling acquisition.
The robotaxi angle is more interesting though. We know robotaxis are going to need places to park, charge, get cleaned and serviced between rides. SpotHero has a network of more than 13,000 parking facilities across 400+ cities, but it doesn’t actually own or operate them. So it’s unclear whether Uber could use these locations for robotaxi staging under existing agreements or would need to negotiate separately with parking operators.
And there’s the question of how this might affect regular drivers. We recently saw complaints about Waymo vehicles crowding public EV chargers in San Diego, with some drivers waiting up to an hour to charge. Those charging stations are also privately owned but open to the public.
Could we see similar issues with robotaxis taking up parking spaces, especially in busy urban areas? It may not be a problem if Uber can secure dedicated spots, but that remains to be seen.
Other Stuff
Terawatt unveils four depots to charge robotaxis and EV fleets across the US (link).
Terawatt Infrastructure has unveiled four new fleet charging depots in South San Francisco, Nashville, Miami and Dallas, adding nearly 22MW of capacity for robotaxi and electric fleet operators, enough to charge more than 3,000 vehicles per day
May Mobility Plans to Bring Autonomous Volkswagen ID. Buzz Vehicles to Global Robotaxi Platforms (link).
‘👀 Silver Ojai available to public today - in SF’ (link). I’ve seen a few around LA and hope to get one soon!
China’s Baidu launches AI model simulating road environment for robotaxis (link, no paywall).
Related: Inside Apollo Go’s Global Robotaxi Strategy with Helen Pan (link).
Faster Data Off the Vehicle—Faster AI on the Road
Virewirx’s VX60 High Performance Wireless System has piqued our interest—that’s why we’re partnering with them this week to share their unique millimeter wave system built to move massive AV fleet data quickly and reliably. Reach out to Brian Lee at info@virewirx.com to learn more.
Uber Engineering Leader for Robotaxis, Delivery Network to Exit (link, no paywall).
Uber VP of Engineering and Science Danny Guo is leaving after nearly 12 years with the company. His departure follows several other high-profile exits, including Sarfraz Maredia, Uber’s global head of autonomous mobility and delivery, along with the AV division’s heads of business development and legal.
My Take: I don’t think there’s any way to spin this as good news for Uber. Losing this many senior leaders in such a short period is concerning, especially as the company is ramping up its robotaxi ambitions. We don’t know what’s driving these departures, and it’s hard to say what impact they’ll have, but I’d much rather see Uber retaining experienced leaders as it tries to execute on its AV strategy. One departure might not mean much, but this many starts to look like a pattern.
Lyft to expand Waymo robotaxi fleet in Nashville by year-end (link).
The company is paid in two ways in Nashville: through Waymo rides booked on its app, and through a fee for each available vehicle it maintains, charges and cleans, CFO Michael Brous told Reuters.
AVs are Back: The New Wave is Bigger (link).
Minimal unveils autonomous delivery ‘Bot’ alongside US expansion (link).
US opens new probe into Waymo vehicles over school bus safety violations (link, no paywall).
James Cox: A Robotaxi / AV with one person in it is maybe one day... a cheaper Uber or Taxi. And there’s still work to do on that. It doesn’t fix traffic. It doesn’t fix cost per seat. It does nothing for public transit anywhere near current pricing. It does nothing to change car ownership. It’s all way too expensive (link).
Related Podcast Interview: The Future of Shared Robotaxi Rides, with James Cox (link).
Introducing the Waymo Accessibility Network UK: Co-Designing the Future of Autonomous Mobility (link). Waymo has launched a new accessibility network in the UK, bringing together 10 disability advocacy organizations to help shape its upcoming robotaxi service in London. The initiative will focus on improving the passenger experience through user research, product testing and feedback on accessibility features.
My Take: Waymo has faced some criticism from disability advocates over its lack of wheelchair-accessible robotaxis, a concern that extends to its newest Ojai vehicle.
This will be particularly interesting in London, where all 13,599 licensed black cabs are required to be wheelchair accessible, and more than 70% are already zero-emission capable (source).
Waymo won’t necessarily face the same requirements since it would operate as a private hire service, but London’s black cab fleet shows that wheelchair-accessible vehicles can be deployed at scale. Obviously, making them fully autonomous adds another layer of complexity, but it’s not like this is some unproven concept. I’ll be curious to see whether Waymo develops a wheelchair-accessible robotaxi or continues to rely on partnerships with other transportation providers to serve these riders.
Our most popular LinkedIn post this past week: A former Apple and Uber engineer raised $51 million to rethink the self-driving truck (link).
AV footprints/expansions
[Tesla] Robotaxi now runs 24/7 (link).
Waymo’s Las Vegas service area just expanded by 24 square miles—up 104.9% to 47 square miles total (link).
Tesla expands robotaxi service to San Antonio (link).
Tesla didn’t provide any additional details about the service, such as the hours of operation, whether the fleet will offer customers its gold, two-seater Cybercab as well as its modified Model Y vehicles, or if these vehicles will have human safety monitors on board.
Zoox Expands Las Vegas Robotaxi Zone, Adds Redesigned Vehicle and Hours (link).
Tesla’s Real Robotaxi Geofence vs the Advertised One (link).
The Zoox robotaxi is now in Atlanta, Georgia (link).
What else we’re reading/listening to
What AVs Could Give Back to Cities (link). Our latest guest post from Stephen Zoepf, CEO at DZCO, explores how AVs could use the data they already collect to help cities fix potholes, manage curb space, improve pedestrian safety and track construction, delivering benefits to residents whether they ride in an AV or not.
The Data Transfer Bottleneck Facing AV Fleets with Virewirx CEO Jason Fiber (link). Our latest podcast where we discuss the data demands of AV fleets, how faster wireless uploads can improve fleet utilization, and how data transfers fit into charging and other depot operations, among other topics.
Capital Commonsense by Rini Sampath: Why Can’t D.C. Residents Hail a Waymo? (link).
Japan Inside Out: Why Japan's Taxi Industry Rejected Ridesharing but Embraced Robotaxis (link).
AV Events
CoMotion LA ’26 is right around the corner on November 18–19 in DTLA, and we’ve partnered with them to offer TDD readers 20% off tickets with code TDD-2026. A couple of things to look out for:
Wing is hosting exclusive flight demonstrations on November 18 from 12–1:30 PM at the Japanese American National Museum and Museum of Contemporary Art.
We’re also hosting a Mobility Mixer/after-party on November 19 from 5–7 PM. If you’re in town, apply to attend here. Hope to see you there!
AVs/Humans behaving badly
‘Video shows a Waymo in San Francisco on I-280 speeding past traffic as the California Highway Patrol performs a traffic break. The Waymo is seen trying to go around the CHP patrol cars, even at one point turning its blinker on’ (link).
My Take: The video appears to be sped up, but regardless, the Waymo shouldn’t be trying to pass CHP during a traffic break. I have to admit it’s pretty funny though, and probably something we’ve all secretly wanted to do when stuck behind one of these rolling roadblocks. :)
‘Didn’t know they could do that’ (link).
Waymo knocks out traffic light (link). But plot twist: turns out it had a safety driver behind the wheel at the time.
‘He Literally Took a Waymo for a Spin’ (link).
‘Someone hijacked my scheduled Waymo right in front of me…’ (link). From the comments, it appears to be a fairly common occurrence. One user even claims to have rerouted their hijacker to the local hospital 😂
Arizona drivers keep hitting Waymos and taking off, police records show (link).
Shout-outs
Big thanks to TDD readers at Moter for referring new subscribers. If there’s someone you think would enjoy TDD, feel free to forward this email or use the referral button below, and we’ll make sure to shout out your company.
Neat Jobs
Senior Technical Project Manager (Autonomous Driving) at Mobileye (link) via Koby Ben Yakar.
Security Operations Technical Program Manager at Waymo (link) via Chris Baker.
Financial Analyst, Marketing and Commercial at Zoox (link) via Gabriela Perez.
Senior Actuary at Waymo (link) via Tilia Gode.
Multiple engineering roles at Wayve via Masa Kameyama.
Global Experiential Marketing Manager at Waymo (link) via Justine Sy.
Creative Director at Waabi (link) via Doug Frisbie.
Fleet Operations Partner Relationship Specialist, Americas at Waymo (link) via Julian Bartsch.
Job Moves
Nathan Chenco: Also (link).
Daniel Clarkson: AMD -> Waymo (link).
Mahesh Yanamandram: Lucid Motors -> NVIDIA (link).
Alex Sale: Coco (link).
Until next week :)
-Harry