(Austin, Texas) Getting around the Lone Star State is as easy as hopping in a car. If you’re in a position where you don’t have a car or choose not to drive, how do you get to where you want to go? Ride share services, of course. They will pick you up from point A and get you to point B for a fee, of course.
What Is Teledriving and How It Works
Ride-sharing services have drivers, such as Lyft and Uber. They also have autonomous vehicles from Waymo and Tesla Robotaxi without drivers. Soon, you could be riding in a semi-autonomous vehicle that is controlled by a human from the comfort of an office suite downtown.
Austin’s Teledriving Plans and Timeline
This could be a new side hustle for those who want to work and drive, without putting miles on their own vehicle or wearing and tearing it out. Controlling this car could be like playing an oversized video game in an arcade. This new form of ride sharing has already been deployed in Las Vegas and could be coming to Austin, Texas, by the fall of 2026.
Austin Transportation and Public Works (ATPW) officials are working with a German-founded company to bring teledriving, as it’s being referred to, to Austin.
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Where Teledriving Has Already Been Used
The Vay company says teledriving allows a human to operate a car in real time using live video feed from the vehicle, while in a remote location. Before being deployed in Las Vegas, KETK reports that the Vay company tested the technology five years before being deployed in Las Vegas.
Interestingly, teledriving vehicles are not regulated by the same rules and laws as autonomous vehicles in Texas since technically a human is driving it, KETK reports.
How Teledriving Fits with Current Ride Share Options
ATPW will be formulating a plan for rules, safety, first responder training, and many other safety concerns with the company to bring the service to the city. If all goes as planned, these teledriving vehicles could join Waymo, Tesla Robotaxi, Lyft, Uber, and traditional taxi services as a way to get around the city.
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