Arizonans could encounter even more self-driving taxis on the state’s roadways within the next year.
Arizona became a hub for autonomous vehicle testing over the past decade after Waymo and others flocked to the state to develop their technology.
Waymo began testing its autonomous taxi program in Chandler in 2017 and opened it up to the general public in the Phoenix metro area in 2020.
Now, the Google-affiliated company may face some competition.
On a call with investors, billionaire Tesla CEO Elon Musk said his car company plans to launch a “robotaxi” service in eight to ten metropolitan areas by the end of the year.
“It depends on various regulatory approvals … but we expect to be operating in Nevada and Florida and Arizona by the end of the year,” Musk said on the call, which was first reported by the Arizona Republic.
The next steps
Tesla is one of 13 companies that has submitted paperwork to test autonomous vehicles in Arizona, according to the Arizona Department of Transportation.
Tesla’s vehicles currently operate with a driver on board.
A department spokesman confirmed that Tesla has submitted self-certification documentation in compliance with the state’s relatively permissive autonomous vehicle regulations, which require companies operating in the state to show their vehicles “meet and will follow all applicable federal laws, regulations and guidelines, will meet all applicable certificate, title and registration, licensing and insurance requirements and are capable of complying with all applicable traffic and motor vehicle safety laws and regulations of the State of Arizona.”
Tesla would need to obtain a separate transportation network company permit to operate a commercial robotaxi service, spokesman Bill Lamoreaux said.
That’s the same permit any taxi service, autonomous or not, needs to obtain to transport passengers in Arizona.
State Sen. David Farnsworth (R-Mesa), who chaired the Senate’s committee on transportation last year, celebrated the news, saying he hopes that an increase in competition will expand the availability into communities that currently don’t have access public transportation or autonomous taxis.
“We know that Waymo has the largest footprint in Maricopa County of any place in the world, and so it's natural, I think, for Tesla and Uber to want to come in and compete, and I welcome that,” he said. “I think that's excellent news.”
What about Uber?
The Tesla news comes days after Farnsworth said he met with Uber representatives and asked them to launch a self-driving service of their own in Arizona.
He said he was driven by a desire to bring service to communities in east Mesa, San Tan Valley and Apache Junction in his district that don’t have access to the large Valley Metro public transportation network that serves much of the Valley.
“And I know there's other parts of the Valley, on the west side, the south side, the north side, and, of course, communities all over the state that have no public transportation,” Farnsworth said.
Farnsworth said he had asked Waymo to expand service to those communities “and they said, ‘no, we’re going to go to Austin, Texas.”
It does not look like Uber will be launching its own robotaxi service in Arizona anytime soon, though.
In response to questions about Farnsworth’s request, an Uber spokesperson referred KJZZ to information about an Uber-Waymo partnership that launched in the Phoenix area in 2023 and allows people to hail a Waymo self-driving car through the Uber app.
Uber was actually at the forefront of autonomous vehicle testing in Arizona, first coming to the state in 2015 after former Gov. Doug Ducey signed an executive order welcoming self-driving companies to Arizona. But Ducey suspended Uber’s permission to test on Arizona roadways in 2018 after a fatal crash involving one of its vehicles and a pedestrian.
Meanwhile, Tesla has faced scrutiny in recent years over a spate of car crashes, some that were fatal, involving its self-driving technology. Musk has repeatedly dismissed that criticism and defended the company’s safety record.
Still, Farnsworth stood by his belief that increasing the number of autonomous vehicles in Arizona is a good thing.
“And in my mind, autonomous transportation, whether it's on the ground or in the air, is the safest means of transportation,” he said.
That’s a claim autonomous vehicle companies have continued to make over the last decade.
And there is some evidence that driverless cars are safer than human drivers in some situations. However, a University Central Florida study found there still isn’t enough data available to draw too many conclusions.
