Your Daily Guide

🚕 Austin Robotaxis to Go Fully Driverless

Elon Musk announced last week that Tesla plans to remove safety moderators in at least some of the city’s Robotaxis by the end of the year. The autonomous rideshare vehicles have been the subject of safety regulation probes since they were deployed in Austin in June, though Musk assured that Tesla remains “paranoid about safety.” [Austin American-Statesman]

• Related: Waymo expanded its fleet of driverless vehicles earlier this year, so what’s it like to ride one? [City Cast Austin 🎧]

🚦 Austin Battles Pedestrian Safety Gaps

A recent report found that Austin has the highest percentage of crashes involving pedestrians, and nearly 28% of them result in serious injury or death, despite the city having fewer crashes than other major Texas cities. The report also uncovered limited enforcement of the Lisa Torry Smith Act — a law passed in 2017 that requires special report filing and increased penalties — because of how the law is written. [Austin Monitor]

🎙️ What Makes Austinites Laugh?

Comedy has thrived in Austin even before the recent influx of famous comedians and dozens of comedy clubs. With ever expanding opportunities for catching a laugh, is Austin the new comedy hub? [City Cast Austin 🎧]

💼 Texas Wage Theft Is on the Rise

State investigators received more than 15,000 paycheck complaints in 2024, the most in nearly a decade, and an understaffed system is struggling to keep up. Austin is one of a few cities with anti-wage theft ordinances in place, but some experts worry the city doesn’t have the resources to enforce them. [Texas Observer]