This week’s edition is brought to you by MOIA America — a mobility technology provider helping agencies, operators, and businesses launch, manage, and scale autonomous driving ecosystems.
Top Story of the Week
Uber and Pony AI take robotaxis to Manchester (link).
The vehicles are mapping the city’s streets with safety drivers behind the wheel. No passengers are being carried, and the companies have not announced when a service might launch. Manchester is the first UK city outside London where robotaxi testing has been announced as part of plans for an autonomous taxi service.
Urban Autonomy Summit
The Austin edition of our Urban Autonomy Summit (UAS), presented by Empiric Earth, was a huge success! It was cool to meet lots of TDD subscribers in real life and it was awesome to see how many people travelled into Austin for the event!
We also teased our 2027 UAS line-up so if you’d like to get involved, please let me know! We’re heading to San Francisco on January 27, 2027, Los Angeles on April 16, 2027, London in June of 2027, and New York City in September of 2027.
Big thanks to our partners at Empiric Earth, Voltera, MOIA, TaskUs, EVKON, Autolane, The Ride Platform, Gridwise, Terawatt, CharterUP, Mobileye and Verizon for making this event possible.
See what people were saying about the event: Voltera, Bailey Lucius (DVP, Strategic Growth at TaskUS), Mobileye, Daniel Severin (Head of Global Mobility Insurance at The Ride Platform), Autolane, Steve Kelley (CEO at L-Charge), MOIA America, James Kirk (Founder and CEO at Nerava), and Elena Sagunova (Global HR Director at Avride).
Other Stuff
Waymo begins airport rides in Nashville (link).
The company announced Tuesday that airport trips are starting now, but access will roll out gradually. Riders will be notified through the Waymo app when the service becomes available to them.
Related: Waymo Wants Into LAX. What’s Taking So Long? (link).
FMCSA lets driverless trucks swap warning triangles for cab-mounted beacons (link).
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration on Oct. 7 granted a five-year, limited exemption allowing Level 4 autonomous trucks to use cab-mounted warning beacons in place of the reflective triangles or flares a driver would normally set out around a stopped truck… Aurora Innovation applied for the exemption in April, but other carriers operating Level 4 trucks can take advantage of it if they notify FMCSA before starting.
Exclusive: Amazon’s Zoox more than doubles its robotaxi footprint in Bay Area city (link). This is cool to see, and it reinforces a point Rachel Castignoli raised at our Urban Autonomy Summit in Austin this week. While AVs could eventually reduce demand for some driving jobs, the companies building and operating these fleets are also creating high-quality local jobs through depots, fleet operations and, especially, manufacturing.
The Amazon-owned company is placing a major foothold in Hayward. The company has leased two industrial buildings that would more than double its footprint near its existing robotaxi facility, the Chronicle has learned. The new lease spans more than 350,000 square feet at 25500 Clawiter Road, in western Hayward’s industrial corridor, just north of Highway 92.
Looks like The Driverless Digest is officially two years old (link).
Powering the Future of Autonomous Mobility for Cities and Businesses, Today
MOIA America develops autonomous mobility solutions designed to help transform how people move through cities and communities. The MOIA brand’s turnkey autonomous mobility platform combines a purpose-built autonomous vehicle, an integrated self-driving hardware and software system, and a Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) platform that enables operators to launch and scale autonomous transportation services. MOIA America is currently testing in U.S. markets, including Los Angeles, Austin, and Orlando.
‘Starting today in San Antonio, San Diego and Tampa, anyone can hail a Waymo, including at San Antonio International Airport’ (link).
Waabi signs Warrior Logistics for Dallas-Houston freight (link).
Dubai launches trial of Glydways’ AI-powered driverless pods on Bluewaters Island (link).
Designed to offer on-demand transport around the clock, the pods can reach speeds of up to 50 km/h and travel up to 250 km on a single charge. The system can also virtually link more than 10 vehicles with intervals of less than one second, giving it the capacity to carry more than 20,000 passengers per hour in both directions.
‘Waymo Ojai has launched in Texas!!’ (link). Looks like Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio all have it.
‘The Wayve AI Driver, integrated into our Fiat 500e development vehicle, taking on the streets of Turin’ (link).
Harry: Quick thoughts after my first cybercab ride in Austin. Pricing and eta were great (link), the experience was unique, and most importantly: smooth/safe driving! (link).
Rivian limits point-to-point driving to invite-only testers under NDA (link).
China’s Delivery Robots Are Learning to Tackle the Night Shift (link).
‘Got paid $8 to close the door of a Waymo today’ (link).
Volvo makes a bigger bet on Nvidia for hands-free automated driving (link).
The companies announced on Thursday that Volvo will use three pieces of Nvidia hardware and software in its future vehicles to provide an automated driving system that can navigate urban streets and highways.
DC robotaxi debate grows as drivers warn of job losses (link).
Related: DC Mayoral Nominee Janeese Lewis George: DC is facing a jobs crisis. Rushing the legalization of autonomous vehicles is irresponsible given the anticipated AI-related job displacement and disruptions that put countless workers at risk (link).
Xpeng launches its own robotaxi brand called Yoyo (link).
Xpeng intends to provide the vehicles and required technology, while its partners will handle the operational management. The manufacturer expects revenue from hardware sales, services, and commission-based participation.
SpaceX alumni nab $100M to rethink shipping with autonomous freight trains (link).
Parallel Systems might have a way to keep freight moving while allowing railroads to recapture market share. The startup has developed a rail vehicle capable of moving over several tons of freight as far as 500 miles without an operator. If the company can scale production of its Panther vehicles, it stands to make railroads profitable over short hauls once again.
What else we're reading/listening to
Automating Group Transportation with CharterUP CEO Armir Harris (link). Our latest podcast where we discuss how CharterUP is preparing for autonomy, its partnership with HOLON, and where autonomous vehicles could have the biggest impact on group transportation.
Analyzing Waymo’s City Distribution Using Rider-Only Miles - Update (link). Our latest article where we analyze Waymo’s rider-only miles across five cities through June 2026, highlighting where growth is slowing and how its geographic footprint is shifting.
Moving People by Barak Sas: Mobileye: acquiring MOIA or keeping Beep + Moovit (link). Barak just moved his publication over to Substack. Feel free to go show him some love!
Related: The Real Impact of Autonomy Will Come From Buses (link).
The Innovation Majority Institute by Greg Rogers: The Subway or the Segway: Invention Isn’t Enough (link).
AVs/Humans behaving badly
‘Apparently someone put a doll against a cybercab’s front tire in downtown Austin and it just ran it over’ (link).
School zone petition adds to Tesla’s robotaxi probe pile (link).
U.S. safety regulators are considering a formal defect investigation into allegations that Tesla robotaxis have sped through active school zones. The petition cites four incidents and three social media videos, with no reported crashes or injuries.
One notable detail: the filing covers an estimated 1,000 Model Y and Cybercab vehicles, offering the first official indication of the size of Tesla’s robotaxi fleet.
Shout-outs
Big thanks to TDD readers at EPRI and Uber 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
Lead Program Manager - New Platform Validation Operations at Waymo (link) via Will Shepherdson.
Global Supply Manager - Indirect at Waabi (link) via Shweta Upganlawar.
Senior Principal Engineer Team Lead - Fleet Software Platform at Motional (link) via Ping Seng N.
Strategy & BizOps Lead, Singapore at Waymo (link) via Sarah Basham.
Lead Technical Program Manager, Robotaxi at Waabi (link) via Ryan Wallace.
Job Moves
Sarfraz Maredia is leaving Uber (link).
Related: Uber Executive Overseeing Robotaxi Expansion to Depart (link).
Paul Adam: General Motors -> Wayve (link).
Branch Kampe: Einride (link).
Michelle Tsai: GoPro -> General Motors (link).
Selinay Parlak: Atoms (link).
Juan Ibañez de Aldecoa: Waymo (link).
Until next week :)
-Harry