Who Controls Austin’s Autonomous Vehicles? Plus, Do You Have To Answer the Door on Halloween?

When you think of Waymo, you might not yet think of your city. But you should definitely be thinking of Austin, Texas. State law governing autonomous vehicles (AVs) supersedes city authority and prevents local governments from regulating AVs, creating areas that have become increasingly attractive to AV companies. City Cast Austin host Miles Bloxson joins Your City Could Better to talk about if this loose regulation is good for Texas, particularly its dense capital city, whether local benefit is a priority for manufacturers at all, and how cities can learn from Austin if a similar influx hits their streets. 

Mentioned on the show:

• City Cast Austin’s episode on AV regulation: https://austin.citycast.fm/podcasts/are-texas-schools-using-ai-to-ban-books-plus-driverless-cars-in-austin-and-new-michelin-stars 
• Waymo blocking emergency response to Austin shooting: https://www.axios.com/local/austin/2026/03/02/waymo-vehicle-blocks-ems-austin-mass-shooting 
• The city of Austin’s public dashboard tracking incidents involving AVs: https://austin.maps.arcgis.com/apps/dashboards/dbd59d9b20634de1afad32a8267b739b#

Is there something your city is doing that we should be talking about? Email David now! 

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