Connect with us

Austin, TX

Uber expands self-driving ride-hailing service to Austin and Atlanta with Waymo partnership

Published

on

Uber expands self-driving ride-hailing service to Austin and Atlanta with Waymo partnership


Uber Technologies is set to expand its partnership with Alphabet’s Waymo, introducing self-driving, all-electric Jaguar I-PACE vehicles to Austin, Texas, and Atlanta, Georgia, starting early next year. This move follows a successful collaboration in Phoenix, Arizona, where Waymo’s autonomous vehicles have been available since 2023.

Additionally, Uber will oversee and deploy a growing fleet of Waymo’s fully autonomous cars, expected to increase to hundreds over time. This initiative aligns with Uber’s broader strategy to integrate new technologies and transition its entire fleet to green energy.

Uber first teamed up with Waymo in 2023 to offer driverless cars in Phoenix. The new service in Austin and Atlanta will allow riders to request Waymo vehicles through Uber’s platform for certain trips. However, the specific criteria for these “qualifying trips” were not disclosed. Riders can also choose to opt out of receiving a Waymo vehicle.

The announcement comes at a crucial time for autonomous vehicle companies, which are facing increased scrutiny from safety regulators due to recent incidents involving self-driving technology. Uber’s partnership with Waymo is part of a broader strategy to leverage advancements in electric and autonomous driving technologies. Uber has also announced a similar collaboration with General Motors’ Cruise to provide self-driving cars on its platform by next year.

Advertisement

Waymo started as the Google Self-Driving Car Project in 2009 and is a leading player in the autonomous vehicle sector. The company currently operates Waymo One, an autonomous ride-hailing service in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Phoenix. Waymo co-CEO Tekedra Mawakana expressed excitement about the expansion, highlighting the positive feedback from existing riders and the opportunity to bring the benefits of autonomous driving to new cities.

Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi also expressed enthusiasm about the expanded partnership, emphasizing the potential for riders in Austin and Atlanta to experience the advantages of autonomous transportation through Uber’s platform.



Source link

Austin, TX

Austin, TX venue Emo’s on the move again, AEG to take over the building

Published

on

Austin, TX venue Emo’s on the move again, AEG to take over the building


Emo’s in Austin is on the move again. 

After more than a decade at 2015 E. Riverside Drive (following the original Red River-era venue closing in 2011), Emo’s current Riverside space will be taken over by AEG Presents when the lease ends later this year. The Los Angeles, CA-based company will assume operations in January 2027 and plans to reopen the building under a new name in early 2027 following upgrades, renovations and a full rebrand.

AEG are also opening a new 4,000-cap venue nearby next spring as part of the River Park mixed-use development in southeast Austin.

C3 Presents, who reopened Emo’s at the Riverside location, say this isn’t the end of Emo’s — they’re working on a new home and plan to move the venue back to downtown Austin, with more updates to come.

Advertisement

AEG Presents Vice President Robin Phillips shared the following:

There’s like no weirdness or any bad blood or anything. It just, you know, new lease and they’ll [Emo’s] go do something great. They have been important to the Austin music scene, so I have a lot of respect for them.

But I don’t think the Austin music scene or legacy is limited to one name. I know people will remember the original Emo’s and this Emo’s as, you know, both great venues… And I don’t think Austin’s music scene is just a name, it’s the artists, in my opinion.

 

A C3 spokesperson added:

Emo’s has a long history in Austin and we’ve been working behind the scenes for some time on a new home for this venue. After we wrap up at this venue in December, we will focus our efforts on our new location.

 

Advertisement

Emo’s gave the following statement to Austin local news KXAN:

We’re grateful for all of the fans and artists who’ve shaped Emo’s to what it is today: a community of like-minded people who love live music. We have a vision for our future and will be moving into a new building downtown that celebrates our punk rock roots with the new amenities that fans are looking for from a venue. We’ll continue to share updates on the next chapter for Emo’s on social media.





Source link

Continue Reading

Austin, TX

Highly pathogenic virus found in herd of Texas dairy cows

Published

on

Highly pathogenic virus found in herd of Texas dairy cows


State and federal agriculture officials said highly pathogenic avian flu has been found in a herd of dairy cows in Texas.

What we know:

Advertisement

Officials said the H5N1 virus was confirmed with laboratory tests in late May after cows at an unspecified farm became sick and milk production dropped. The dairy has since been quarantined and an investigation is underway.

This is the first case of avian flu in a Texas dairy herd this year, officials said.

What they’re saying:

Advertisement

“The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is confident that pasteurization is effective at inactivating H5N1, and that the commercial, pasteurized milk supply is safe,” officials at the Texas Animal Health Commission said in a statement.

A dairy cow is seen at a farm on June 1, 2026.

A dairy cow is seen at a farm on June 1, 2026. (Tim Evans/Bloomberg / Getty Images)

Advertisement

Dig deeper:

H5N1 has a high rate of severe disease and death in animals that become infected.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the risk to the general public from avian flu is low. Some sporadic human infections have been reported around the world since 1997. There have been no known cases of person-to-person spreading of avian flu.

Advertisement

The Source: Information in this story came from the Texas Animal Health Commission, the USDA, the FDA and the CDC.

TexasHealthPets and AnimalsFood and Drink



Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Austin, TX

New Texas law tightens rules for autonomous vehicle companies, including Waymo

Published

on

New Texas law tightens rules for autonomous vehicle companies, including Waymo


Self-driving cars have become a common sight on Austin streets, but a new Texas law is adding tougher requirements for the companies behind the wheelless vehicles.

Senate Bill 2807 imposes stricter rules on autonomous vehicle companies operating in the state, including state authorization, emergency response plans for law enforcement, and a public portal where residents can verify operators and file safety complaints.

The changes come as Austin continues to track incidents involving autonomous vehicles. The city’s autonomous vehicle dashboard shows 75 incidents in 2026, including a collision, eight near misses, and seven incidents of ignoring police direction.

Attorney Drew Gibbs, a partner at Slingshot Law, said one crash involved a Waymo vehicle.

Advertisement

“There was a T-bone collision. A pretty serious T-bone collision where a Waymo just crashed into the side of my client’s vehicle,” Gibbs said.

ALSO| Waymo files voluntary software recall over flooded-lane risks on high-speed roads

KEYE

Advertisement

One of the incidents of ignoring police direction happened during the mass shooting on West Sixth Street back in March, when three people died, and 15 others were injured.

Austin Police Association President Michael Bullock said autonomous vehicles can struggle in unusual situations.

“It didn’t impede on anything in the moment, but it’s not necessarily uncommon where these vehicles don’t quite know how to deal with these one-off scenarios,” Bullock said.

The new law requires autonomous vehicle companies to be authorized by the state, to provide an emergency response plan for law enforcement, and to participate in a public-facing portal that allows the public to verify operators and submit safety complaints.

Kara Kockelman, a professor of transportation and engineering at the University of Texas at Austin, welcomed the added oversight.

Advertisement

“I’m glad that the state is taking this a bit more seriously now,” she said. “It’s important not to just let others slip in without kind of meeting those basic minimums.”

Bullock said the emergency planning requirement may not make a major difference in fast-moving situations. Asked how impactful it is to have a fully laid out emergency response plan, Bullock said, “These plans are great, but it takes time to work through all of those versus the immediacy of having someone behind the wheel.”

The four autonomous vehicle companies operating in Austin — Waymo, Zoox, AV-Ride, and Tesla — are all state-authorized.

The Texas DMV said an autonomous vehicle company can lose its authorization to operate in Texas if the agency deems the vehicles are operating in a way that endangers public safety.

Waymo was contacted for comment, but had not responded.

Advertisement



Source link

Continue Reading
Advertisement

Trending