▸ Autonomous Vehicle Reference

US Robotaxi Status — July 2026

The current status of every US robotaxi operator — who's live, in which cities, at what scale — plus which production EVs offer hands-off or eyes-off driving. Verified monthly against operator press, SEC filings, and state DMV records.

By ·

Robotaxi operators active in the US

Every operator running paid or near-paid public robotaxi service in the US as of July 2026. Status: Active = open public service; Limited = mixed availability or geofence still expanding; Preparing = announced launch, not yet riding the public.

Waymo

Alphabet · L4 robotaxi (no human in vehicle)
Active

The clear US robotaxi leader — public rides in 11 US metros and ~500K paid rides per week. Freeway rides are temporarily paused (since May 2026) pending a software update; surface-street service is unaffected.

Cities
Phoenix, AZ · San Francisco Bay Area, CA · Los Angeles, CA · Atlanta, GA · Austin, TX · Dallas, TX · Houston, TX · San Antonio, TX · Orlando, FL · Miami, FL · Nashville, TN
How to book
Waymo One app (Phoenix, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Miami, Orlando, Nashville) · Uber app (Austin, Atlanta — exclusive in those metros) · Lyft app (Nashville)
Vehicle
Jaguar I-PACE (primary in-service vehicle); 6th-gen Zeekr-built robotaxi now carrying public riders as the 'Ojai' (since May 28, 2026); Hyundai IONIQ 5 still ramping toward fleet service
Scale
Fleet: 4,000
Weekly rides: 500,000
Weekly autonomous mi: 4,000,000

Expansion: on July 8, 2026 Waymo announced four new US markets — San Diego, Las Vegas, Tampa, and Denver — starting employee-first rides in the coming weeks with public service targeted by end of 2026 (plus London later in 2026), reaffirming its 20+ cities and 1M weekly trips goals; these are not yet counted as live cities here. Operational status: Waymo paused public freeway rides in late May 2026 pending a software update (surface-street service is unaffected and continues normally) — so freeway is temporarily out of its public operating domain. Its 6th-gen Zeekr-built vehicle (the 'Ojai') began carrying public riders on May 28, 2026 in LA, Phoenix, and SF; the Hyundai IONIQ 5 is still ramping toward fleet service (Arizona production expected late 2026). Launched fully autonomous public rides in Nashville, TN on April 7, 2026 (Waymo One app + Lyft). Added a paid 'Waymo Premier' membership ($29.99/mo, invite-only) on June 11, 2026. Airport access includes Phoenix Sky Harbor and SFO. Going international: raised ~$16B (Feb 2026) with London named as its first overseas market and testing underway in Tokyo. Pauses operations during heavy rain or flooding in some metros until conditions clear.

Tesla Robotaxi

Tesla · Geofenced robotaxi (mixed supervised + unsupervised)
Limited

Operates in Austin, Dallas, and Houston (TX), Miami (FL), and the SF Bay Area (CA, with safety drivers per state law). Launched fully driverless in Miami on July 3, 2026 — its first market outside Texas and California, and the first time it skipped the safety-monitor phase in a new city. Runs an unsupervised variant of the same FSD stack Tesla ships to ~1.28M consumer subscribers.

Cities
Austin, TX · Dallas, TX · Houston, TX · Miami, FL · San Francisco Bay Area, CA (safety driver — CA law)
How to book
Tesla app — Robotaxi
Vehicle
Tesla Model Y (purpose-built Cybercab vehicle announced but not yet in service)
Scale
Fleet: ~20-42 active driverless vehicles in Texas (independent trackers); a larger supervised Bay Area fleet (~100+ per late-2025 reporting); Miami fleet size not disclosed. Morgan Stanley projects ~1,500 vehicles by end-2026.
Weekly rides: not disclosed

Architecturally distinct from Waymo: Tesla deploys the same vision-only neural network used in consumer FSD inside a geofence, rather than relying on HD-mapped cities and lidar — that's the bet that scaling is faster, even if early-rollout reliability metrics lag a more mapped, sensor-rich approach. The Miami launch (July 3, 2026) is fully driverless from day one in a geofence of roughly 10-20 sq mi of western Miami-Dade (service-area estimates vary) — covering corridors near Miami International Airport, West Miami, and Doral, and deliberately excluding downtown and Brickell. The Texas map footprint is large but thin: state filings list 42 authorized vehicles and independent trackers count ~20 active. The SF Bay Area service (running since 2025) is Tesla's largest by vehicle count but requires a safety driver — California still classifies it as a limousine offering rather than a robotaxi (Tesla holds the entry-level DMV permit) and has an open state action over 'Full Self-Driving' marketing. Musk has tied aggressive scaling to FSD v15 — a model rewrite growing from ~1B to ~10B parameters — pointing to late 2026 / early 2027. On June 5, 2026 Tesla filed for a Nevada Autonomous Vehicle Network Company permit covering Las Vegas (including Harry Reid and Henderson airports) and allowing up to 5,000 vehicles in year one.

Zoox

Amazon · L4 robotaxi — purpose-built vehicle (no steering wheel or pedals)
Active

Amazon-owned, purpose-built robotaxi. Public (and still FREE) on the Las Vegas Strip — it can't charge fares anywhere yet, pending an NHTSA exemption.

Cities
Las Vegas, NV · San Francisco, CA (early access)
How to book
Zoox app
Vehicle
Zoox purpose-built carriage-style robotaxi (bidirectional, no driver controls)
Scale
Total autonomous mi: ~2 million
Total passengers: 500,000+ since launch (milestone reported June 2026)

Important caveat most coverage glosses over: Zoox charges no fares in any market. Because its vehicle has no steering wheel or pedals, it needs an NHTSA exemption from the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards before it can operate commercially (petition covers up to 2,500 vehicles; under NHTSA review as of late June 2026), so Las Vegas rides remain free. Las Vegas service area more than doubled in March 2026 (Convention Center + Strip hotels). San Francisco quadrupled its service area in March 2026 but is still employee/friends-and-family early access, not public. Austin and Miami announced as next launch markets (small early-access zones). Unveiled a redesigned production robotaxi on June 24-25, 2026 ahead of series production; its Hayward, CA factory is scaling toward up to 100 vehicles/week. Zoox robotaxis are slated to join the Uber app in Las Vegas in summer 2026.

Motional

Hyundai (sole owner after Aptiv exit) · L4 robotaxi — live supervised pilot, driverless targeted EOY 2026
Active

Hyundai-owned, rebooted in early 2026 with an AI-first stack. Now hailable on the Uber app in Las Vegas (with a safety monitor onboard); driverless commercial service still targeted by end of 2026.

Cities
Las Vegas, NV (supervised pilot; driverless targeted EOY 2026)
How to book
Uber app (Las Vegas)
Vehicle
Hyundai IONIQ 5 robotaxi
Scale
Phase: supervised public pilot — safety monitor still onboard

As of March 13, 2026, Motional's IONIQ 5 is bookable on the Uber app across five Las Vegas zones (Resorts World, Encore, Westgate, Town Square, Downtown) with a safety monitor onboard — a live supervised public pilot, the 'final proving ground' before removing the monitor for the targeted end-of-2026 driverless launch. Aptiv exited the joint venture in 2025; Hyundai is the sole owner and added ~$1B in the reboot (which included deep layoffs and an AI-first perception stack).

Verified 2026-06-27 Sources: [1][2]

May Mobility

Independent (Toyota / BMW i Ventures / others as investors; ECARX partnership) · Shared-shuttle AV service
Active

The other US AV operator — lower-speed transit/paratransit, and now running a fully driverless (driver-out) rider service in the Atlanta metro.

Cities
Sun City, AZ · Atlanta, GA · Detroit, MI (limited) · Various other small/mid-sized US deployments
How to book
Local transit-style booking via partner agencies; Lyft integration in some markets
Vehicle
Toyota Sienna AV minivans (transitioning toward lower-cost platforms with ECARX)
Scale
Focus: Lower-speed shared shuttles, often as on-demand transit

Now operating driver-out (no safety operator) in the Atlanta metro (Peachtree Corners) — one of its first truly driverless US rider deployments — alongside standby-operator services it is transitioning toward driver-out (e.g. an Atlanta-Midtown Lyft service and an Arlington, TX service with Uber). In May 2026 it signed a framework deal with ECARX worth roughly $750M to supply autonomy-enabled vehicles (central compute + L4 sensor suite), with initial third-party-platform deployment targeted for 2027 and scale-up in 2028 — the concrete path to its stated ~50% vehicle-cost reduction. Less consumer-visible than Waymo/Tesla because the model is partnership-driven (transit agencies + employers + Uber/Lyft) rather than a direct-to-rider app.

Verified 2026-06-27 Sources: [1][2]

Avride

Independent (spun out of Yandex) · L4 robotaxi — live via Uber (safety operator onboard)
Active

Launched commercial robotaxi rides on the Uber app in Dallas in December 2025 — matched to standard UberX/Comfort requests at no extra cost, with a safety operator onboard for now.

Cities
Dallas, TX
How to book
Uber app (Dallas)
Vehicle
Hyundai IONIQ 5
Scale
Phase: early commercial — safety operator onboard, driver-out planned

Began commercial service on December 3, 2025 in a roughly 9-square-mile zone (Downtown, Uptown, Turtle Creek, Deep Ellum) using a Hyundai IONIQ 5 fleet dispatched through Uber. Rides match normal UberX/Comfort pricing — no premium. A safety operator rides along for now, with driver-out (fully driverless) planned. Confirmed still operating as of June 2026.

Verified 2026-06-27 Sources: [1][2]

Nuro

Nuro (partnership with Uber + Lucid) · L4 robotaxi — public-road testing (not yet carrying public riders)
Preparing

A premium robotaxi effort from Nuro, Uber, and Lucid. Began public-road testing in the SF Bay Area in April 2026; Houston named as a second market with service due in 2027.

Cities
San Francisco Bay Area, CA (testing)
How to book
Planned via the Uber app
Vehicle
Lucid-based premium robotaxi running the Nuro Driver autonomy stack
Scale
Phase: pre-commercial — public-road testing

Nuro pivoted from autonomous goods delivery to licensing its 'Nuro Driver' stack; this Uber + Lucid partnership puts it into premium passenger robotaxi. Bay Area public-road testing began around April 13, 2026; Houston is the announced second market with service targeted for mid-2027. Not yet carrying public riders.

Verified 2026-06-27 Sources: [1][2]

No longer operating

Cruise (shut down) Shut down

GM wound down Cruise robotaxi operations in December 2024. The team and tech were absorbed into GM's personal-vehicle ADAS work (Super Cruise / next-gen).

GM cited the cost and time to scale a competitive robotaxi business as the reason for exit. Cruise is no longer operating a public robotaxi service. GM has NOT restarted a robotaxi business, but it did revive an autonomous-driving program for PERSONAL vehicles (renewed push in 2025; ex-Tesla autonomy leadership hired late 2025), and is now targeting an eyes-off (Level 3) system on the 2028 Cadillac Escalade IQ — that's a consumer-car effort, not a robotaxi relaunch. Included here so users searching the Cruise brand reach a current, sourced answer.

Verified 2026-06-27 Sources: [1][2]

Where can I ride a robotaxi today?

US cities with public or early-access robotaxi service as of July 2026.

CityOperators serving
San Francisco, CA Waymo (public) · Zoox (early access) · Nuro (testing) · Tesla Robotaxi (safety driver)
Los Angeles, CA Waymo (public)
Phoenix, AZ Waymo (public)
Atlanta, GA Waymo (Uber app)
Austin, TX Waymo (Uber app) · Tesla Robotaxi (Tesla app, mixed supervised/unsupervised)
Dallas, TX Waymo (public) · Tesla Robotaxi (unsupervised) · Avride (Uber app, safety operator)
Houston, TX Waymo (public) · Tesla Robotaxi (unsupervised)
San Antonio, TX Waymo (public)
Orlando, FL Waymo (public)
Miami, FL Waymo (public) · Tesla Robotaxi (driverless, since July 3, 2026)
Nashville, TN Waymo (Waymo One app + Lyft)
Las Vegas, NV Zoox (public on Strip, free) · Motional (supervised pilot on Uber)

Production-vehicle autonomy — what each system actually does

Hands-free, eyes-off, and "supervised" features by automaker. No production passenger vehicle in 2026 is L4 — only robotaxis (above) are. To weigh these cars on range, price, and charging, use our EV comparison tool.

Read this section by operational scope, not by SAE level. Tesla FSD is L2 because Tesla keeps the driver legally responsible — but in functional scope it's the only system that operates on any road, including city streets, intersections, traffic lights, and unprotected turns. The hands-off L2+ systems (Super Cruise, BlueCruise, ProPILOT 2.0, Rivian Universal Hands-Free) only engage on mapped divided highways and will not handle intersections or signals. Mercedes Drive Pilot is the only L3 (eyes-off) system certified for US roads, but only on specific highways at ≤40 mph.

Operational scope at a glance
System Highways City streets Intersections Lights & signs Hands-off
Tesla FSD (Supervised) Yes Yes Yes Yes No (supervised)
Mercedes Drive Pilot (L3) Mapped highways only, ≤40 mph No No No Yes (eyes-off)
GM Super Cruise Mapped highways only No No No Yes
Ford BlueCruise Mapped Blue Zones only No No No Yes
Nissan ProPILOT 2.0 Mapped highways only No No No Yes
Rivian Universal Hands-Free Yes Lane-keep only No No Yes

"Yes" = the system engages and handles that environment under normal conditions. "No" = the system either disengages or never engages there. Tesla FSD is the only production system that operates across all five environments — but it requires the driver to remain attentive and hands-on. Every other system on this list cedes those city-driving environments back to the human driver.

Tesla FSD (Supervised) / Autopilot

Tesla
L2
Level 2 (supervised) — by far the widest operational scope of any production system

Where it works: The only production system that operates on essentially ANY road. Highways + city streets + intersections + traffic lights + stop signs + unprotected turns + roundabouts + parking. Every other hands-off system on this page is restricted to a mapped highway network and explicitly will not handle intersections or traffic signals. FSD currently has 10+ billion cumulative miles driven, ~3.8 billion of those on city streets.

Vehicles: Model 3 · Model Y · Model S · Model X · Cybertruck

Safety record: Tesla publishes a quarterly Vehicle Safety Report covering the supervised fleet. Direct safety comparison to mapped-highway-only systems isn't apples-to-apples — FSD's mileage includes city driving (statistically far more dangerous per mile than divided highway). NHTSA has an active FSD investigation (escalated to an Engineering Analysis — the recall-track stage — covering ~3.2 million vehicles in 2026), and California has an open state action over 'Full Self-Driving' branding.

Availability: Available as Autopilot (standard on every Tesla), Enhanced Autopilot (one-time purchase), and FSD (Supervised) — either $99/month subscription or $8,000 one-time. 1.28 million active FSD subscribers as of Q1 2026 — up about 16% from ~1.1M in Q4 2025, and roughly +51% year-over-year. Continuously updated OTA — FSD (Supervised) v14.3.3 rolled out through June 2026 (upgraded reinforcement-learning training), and a 'v14 Lite' build for older HW3 cars began reaching early-access users in late June/early July 2026 — the first FSD update for HW3 owners in roughly 14 months.

Tesla classifies FSD as Level 2 because Tesla — not the system — accepts no legal responsibility while engaged. That is a regulatory classification, not a capability ranking: by functional scope, FSD does things no other production system attempts. It also has, by an order of magnitude, the largest real-world dataset of any consumer autonomy system. The Robotaxi product (in the operators section above) runs an unsupervised variant of the same stack inside a geofence.

Mercedes-Benz Drive Pilot (US rollout paused)

Mercedes-Benz
L3 (US rollout paused)
Level 3 — Eyes-off, hands-off (within operational design domain) — US availability paused as of early 2026

Where it works: Was approved by the California DMV (Jun 2023) and Nevada (Jan 2023). Operated on certain limited-access highways, in daylight, at speeds up to 40 mph, behind a lead vehicle, in clear weather. Not being offered on the 2026 S-Class.

Vehicles: EQS Sedan · S-Class

Availability: Paused/discontinued in the US around January 2026. Mercedes is not offering the eyes-off L3 Drive Pilot on the 2026 S-Class, shifting instead to a Level 2++ 'MB.Drive Assist Pro' hands-on system that covers a wider range of city and highway conditions. The drivers were high cost and limited customer uptake. (Often miscast as a Luminar story: Mercedes had already terminated its Luminar lidar supply deal in late 2024, and Luminar's December 2025 bankruptcy was driven mainly by a separate collapsed Volvo deal — so the pause followed it chronologically but wasn't caused by it.) No SAE Level 3 system is currently being offered to US consumers.

Drive Pilot was the first and only L3 system certified for US public roads (CA + NV) before the pause. With its US rollout halted, the US has no production L3 system currently on offer: BMW canceled its Personal Pilot L3 program globally as part of the 2026 7 Series facelift after low uptake; Honda Sensing Elite L3 remains Japan-only.

GM Super Cruise

GM (Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC)
L2+
Level 2+ — Hands-off, eyes-on (mapped highways only — does NOT handle intersections, lights, or city streets)

Where it works: Hands-free ONLY on ~750,000 miles of mapped, divided highways across the US and Canada. Will not engage on city streets and does not handle intersections, traffic lights, or stop signs. Driver-facing IR camera enforces eyes-on requirement.

Vehicles: Cadillac Lyriq · Cadillac Vistiq · Cadillac Escalade IQ · Cadillac CT5 · Chevrolet Silverado EV · Chevrolet Equinox EV · Chevrolet Blazer EV · GMC Sierra EV · GMC Hummer EV

Safety record: GM reports zero crashes and zero fatalities across approximately 160 million Super Cruise miles. Important caveat: those miles are exclusively on mapped, divided highways — statistically the safest driving environment per mile. This isn't an apples-to-apples comparison with systems (like Tesla FSD) whose mileage includes city streets, intersections, and traffic lights.

Availability: Widely available across GM EV lineup (and many ICE models).

Conservative by design — a narrow operational scope is part of why the safety record is clean. GM's pivot away from Cruise robotaxi (December 2024) reinvested in personal-vehicle autonomy: Super Cruise passed 1 billion cumulative hands-free miles in April 2026, and GM is now testing an eyes-off (Level 3) system (200+ vehicles in CA/MI) targeted for the 2028 Cadillac Escalade IQ — highway-only, not yet in production.

Ford BlueCruise

Ford / Lincoln
L2+
Level 2+ — Hands-off, eyes-on (mapped Blue Zones — does NOT handle intersections, lights, or city streets)

Where it works: Hands-free only on Ford's pre-mapped 'Hands-Free Blue Zones' — divided highways across the US and Canada, mileage expanding via OTA. Will not engage on city streets and does not handle intersections, traffic signals, or stop signs. Outside the mapped network, BlueCruise downgrades to hands-on Adaptive Cruise + lane centering.

Vehicles: Mustang Mach-E · F-150 Lightning · F-150 (ICE) · Explorer · Expedition · Lincoln Navigator

Safety record: Public NHTSA incident reporting lists BlueCruise involved in 11 crashes with 3 fatalities since launch. Same caveat as Super Cruise: mileage is on Blue Zone highways only, so cross-system safety comparisons (especially to systems that drive in cities) aren't apples-to-apples.

Availability: Available across Ford EV and most non-EV trucks/SUVs.

Strict eyes-on enforcement via IR-based driver-monitoring camera. Scope is highway lane-keeping with automated lane changes — not a self-driving system in the full sense.

Nissan ProPILOT Assist 2.0 / 2.1

Nissan / Infiniti
L2+
Level 2+ — Hands-off on mapped highways only (no intersections, no city streets)

Where it works: Hands-free on pre-mapped divided highways in the US. Includes automated lane changes and overtaking assist. Does not engage on city streets and does not handle intersections or traffic lights.

Vehicles: Nissan Ariya (select trims) · Infiniti QX60 (select trims)

Availability: Available as an option on higher trims; less broadly available than Super Cruise or BlueCruise.

The third pillar of mainstream hands-free-on-highway in the US, alongside GM Super Cruise and Ford BlueCruise. Same operational-scope ceiling: divided highway lane-keeping, no city driving.

Rivian Autonomy+ / Universal Hands-Free

Rivian
L2+
Level 2+ — Hands-off, eyes-on (lane-keeping only; does NOT handle intersections or traffic signals)

Where it works: Started as Enhanced Highway Assist on ~135,000 miles of approved freeways. The 2025.46 OTA expanded 'Universal Hands-Free' to 3.5M+ miles of roads including rural and some city streets — but the system does NOT stop or slow for traffic lights or stop signs. Functionally it is hands-off lane-keeping with adaptive cruise on a broader road set, not a city-driving system. The driver must take every intersection, light, and stop sign.

Vehicles: R1S (Gen 2) · R1T (Gen 2)

Availability: Subscription: $49.99/mo or $2,500 one-time. 60-day trial on new R1S/R1T deliveries.

Major scope expansion announced at Rivian's 'Autonomy Day' in 2026. Positioned as a Tesla FSD competitor in marketing, but the operational scope is meaningfully narrower — Rivian's system explicitly does not handle the intersections, signals, and unprotected turns that FSD attempts. That gap is set to narrow: 'Universal Hands-Free 2.0,' slated for Q3 2026, is announced to add stop-light/stop-sign response, surface-street automated lane change, and on-ramp-to-off-ramp routing (a step toward L3) — but it has not shipped as of late June 2026, so today the system still does not stop for lights or stop signs.

Subaru Highway Hands-Free Assist

Subaru
L2+
Level 2+ — Hands-off, eyes-on (highways only — does NOT handle intersections, lights, or city streets)

Where it works: Hands-free, eyes-on on most controlled-access US highways at speeds up to ~85 mph, with a driver-monitoring camera enforcing attention. Like every other L2+ system here, it does not engage on city streets and does not handle intersections, traffic lights, or stop signs.

Vehicles: Outback Touring · Outback Touring XT

Availability: Subaru's first hands-free system, announced March 2026 on the 2026 Outback Touring / Touring XT — notably offered with no-cost OTA/dealer activation for eligible existing owners.

A genuine new entrant to the US hands-free-on-highway club (alongside GM Super Cruise, Ford BlueCruise, Nissan ProPILOT 2.0/2.1, and Rivian). Same operational ceiling: highway lane-keeping, no city driving.

BMW Personal Pilot L3 (discontinued)

BMW
L3 (discontinued)
Level 3 — never offered in US; discontinued globally

Where it works: Germany only — operated up to 60 km/h (37 mph) on divided highways in daylight, no construction zones or tolls.

Vehicles: 7 Series (Germany only, 2023–2026)

Availability: Discontinued. The 2027 7 Series facelift drops L3 in favor of a Level 2 'Symbiotic Drive' hands-off / eyes-on system that debuted in the new iX3.

BMW publicly cited insufficient customer demand to justify continued L3 development. Listed here for query coverage — readers searching 'BMW Personal Pilot US' deserve a clean answer.

SAE autonomy levels — the quick reference

The SAE J3016 framework is the global standard for talking about vehicle automation. The single most useful distinction: at L2 and below, the driver is legally responsible — at L3 and above, the system is, while engaged.

An important nuance often missed: the SAE level reflects who accepts legal responsibility, not how capable the system is. A more-capable system can sit at a lower SAE level if the manufacturer chooses to keep liability with the driver. Tesla FSD is the clearest example — classified L2 because Tesla doesn't accept liability while engaged, yet it handles intersections, traffic lights, stop signs, and city streets that every L2+ hands-off competitor explicitly refuses to operate on.

L0
No automation

Driver does everything. Adaptive cruise control alone is L0/L1 depending on integration.

Examples: Basic forward-collision warning, blind-spot monitoring.

L1
Driver assistance

System controls either steering OR speed, never both.

Examples: Adaptive cruise control without lane-keeping. Lane-keeping without ACC.

L2
Partial automation

System controls steering AND speed. Driver must monitor and be ready to take over at any time, hands on or off the wheel depending on the specific system. The SAE level reflects who is legally responsible — it is NOT a ranking of how capable the system is. Tesla FSD is L2 because Tesla doesn't accept liability while engaged, but functionally it handles intersections and city streets that mapped-highway L2+ systems explicitly will not.

Examples: Tesla Autopilot, Tesla FSD (Supervised). Most consumer ADAS sits here.

L2+
Hands-off, eyes-on (industry term, not formal SAE)

Same legal status as L2 — driver is responsible — but the system permits hands-off operation in a defined road network, with eye-tracking enforcing attention. In practice this means lane-keeping on mapped divided highways. None of the L2+ systems below handle intersections, traffic lights, stop signs, or city streets.

Examples: GM Super Cruise, Ford BlueCruise, Nissan ProPILOT 2.0/2.1, Rivian Universal Hands-Free.

L3
Conditional automation

Eyes OFF allowed within a strict operational design domain (specific roads, speeds, weather). The SYSTEM is responsible while engaged; the driver must take over when prompted.

Examples: Mercedes-Benz Drive Pilot (was the only L3 certified for US public roads, CA + NV) — but its US rollout was paused in early 2026, so no L3 system is currently offered to US consumers.

L4
High automation

No human driver required within the operational design domain. The vehicle handles all edge cases or pulls over safely.

Examples: Waymo, Zoox, Motional (target), Tesla Robotaxi (within geofence).

L5
Full automation

No operational design domain — any road, any condition, no human input ever needed.

Examples: No production system exists at L5 as of 2026.

International operators (not yet in the US)

Listed for query coverage — readers searching these operators deserve a current, sourced answer about US availability.

  • Baidu Apollo Go (China (+ Middle East, Asia, Europe pilots)) — The world's largest robotaxi operation — peaked above ~350,000 weekly driverless rides in March 2026 across 27+ cities, now just ahead of Waymo globally. Went international in 2026 (Dubai driverless via Uber, Abu Dhabi, Seoul, a Switzerland L4 permit). No US service.
  • WeRide (China / UAE / Saudi / Europe) — Launched fully driverless, fare-charging robotaxi service in Dubai via Uber on March 31, 2026 (no onboard operator); also Abu Dhabi and Riyadh, with a 1,200+ vehicle Middle East commitment by ~2027. US presence is a California test permit only (no public service).
  • Pony.ai (China / Europe / Middle East) — Robotaxi service in multiple Chinese cities; launched Europe's first commercial robotaxi service in Zagreb, Croatia (early 2026, with Verne + Uber) and is expanding toward Dubai/Doha. Ranked among the top global operators. No US public service.
  • Wayve (UK) — AI-first AV stack. With Uber + Nissan, will begin preparing a Tokyo robotaxi pilot (Nissan LEAF) by late 2026; London remains pre-commercial. Has had US ADAS testing in the SF Bay Area since 2024 (no US robotaxi service) and announced a 2026 Stellantis + Uber L4 partnership.

US autonomy regulation — what changed recently

The rules move almost as fast as the operators. The federal and state actions below directly shape where and how robotaxis can scale.

  • NHTSA brake-pedal NPRM (FMVSS No. 135) Proposed — public comment open June 25, 2026

    NHTSA proposed amending Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 135 to drop manual brake-control (pedal) requirements for vehicles designed to never have a human driver — i.e. purpose-built robotaxis like Zoox. Braking-performance and stopping-distance standards are preserved; nothing changes for vehicles with manual controls. Comment period runs to July 27, 2026. A meaningful step toward letting no-steering-wheel/no-pedal robotaxis operate at scale.

    Source: federalregister.gov
  • NHTSA withdraws the AV STEP evaluation framework Withdrawn June 26, 2026

    NHTSA withdrew the proposed 'AV STEP' program — the Biden-era voluntary national framework for evaluating automated-driving systems. The federal approach is shifting toward targeted FMVSS modernization (above) rather than a new voluntary evaluation regime.

    Source: insurancejournal.com
  • SELF DRIVE Act of 2026 (H.R. 7390) Pending — not law Introduced February 2026

    The first dedicated federal autonomous-vehicle bill of this Congress. Introduced February 5, 2026 and advanced out of subcommittee February 10 on a narrow 12–11 vote. Aims to set a national framework (and FMVSS exemptions) for AVs, but is not enacted — track as pending.

    Source: govtrack.us
  • California DMV — new AV rules + enforcement Finalized April 28, 2026

    California finalized rules that lift the ban on autonomous vehicles over 10,001 lbs (allowing driverless freight trucks), permit medium-duty AV transit, and add enforcement teeth — a roadside 'Notice of AV Noncompliance' to manufacturers begins July 1, 2026 (72-hour response), plus geofencing directives and a 30-second first-responder response requirement.

    Source: dmv.ca.gov
  • Texas SB 2807 — AV permit requirement In effect Effective Sept 1, 2025; commercial authorization required from May 28, 2026

    Texas's autonomous-vehicle law took effect September 1, 2025; the requirement for a state (TxDMV) authorization before commercial driverless operation became enforceable May 28, 2026. Relevant because Texas hosts Waymo, Tesla Robotaxi, and Avride.

    Source: txdmv.gov

Frequently asked questions

In which US cities can I ride a robotaxi today?

Waymo serves 11 US metros open to public riders: Phoenix, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Austin, Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, Orlando, Miami, and Nashville (its freeway rides are temporarily paused as of mid-2026 pending a software update; surface-street service runs normally). Zoox runs on the Las Vegas Strip (public, free) and is in early-access in San Francisco. Motional is a supervised pilot on the Uber app in Las Vegas. Tesla Robotaxi operates in Austin, Dallas, and Houston (Texas only). Avride runs on the Uber app in Dallas with a safety operator.

Is Tesla FSD self-driving?

Functionally, Tesla FSD (Supervised) handles more driving than any other production system: city streets, intersections, traffic lights, stop signs, unprotected turns, parking, and highways — essentially any road. By SAE classification it is Level 2, but that classification reflects legal responsibility (Tesla doesn't accept liability while engaged), not capability. The hands-off L2+ competitors (GM Super Cruise, Ford BlueCruise, Nissan ProPILOT 2.0, Rivian Universal Hands-Free) are restricted to mapped divided highways and will not engage at intersections, traffic lights, or on city streets. Tesla's Robotaxi service (Texas) runs an unsupervised variant of the same FSD stack inside a geofence.

Which production EVs let me drive hands-free?

Four production systems permit hands-off operation today, all restricted to mapped divided highways: GM Super Cruise on ~750,000 miles of highway (Cadillac Lyriq / Vistiq / Escalade IQ; Chevy Silverado EV, Equinox EV, Blazer EV; GMC Sierra EV / Hummer EV), Ford BlueCruise on mapped 'Blue Zones' (Mustang Mach-E, F-150 Lightning, etc.), Nissan ProPILOT 2.0 on Nissan Ariya, and Rivian Universal Hands-Free on the R1S / R1T (Gen 2). None of these handle intersections, traffic lights, stop signs, or city streets — they're hands-off lane-keepers on a defined road network. Tesla FSD operates on a far wider scope (including city streets and intersections) but is hands-on/eyes-on at all times because Tesla classifies it as supervised.

Can I buy a Level 3 (eyes-off) car in the US in 2026?

Not on a new car. Mercedes-Benz Drive Pilot was the only SAE Level 3 system certified for US public roads (California and Nevada, ≤40 mph on mapped highways), but Mercedes discontinued it for new models starting with the 2026 S-Class, replacing it with a hands-off/eyes-on Level 2++ system (MB Drive Assist Pro). Owners of 2023–2025 S-Class and EQS cars already equipped with Drive Pilot can still use it via subscription. BMW canceled its Germany-only Personal Pilot L3 program, and Honda Sensing Elite L3 remains Japan-only. So as of mid-2026 no new US vehicle is sold with an eyes-off L3 system.

Tesla Robotaxi vs Waymo — how do they compare?

They're playing fundamentally different games. Waymo leads on driverless commercial scale today: 11 US metros, ~3,000 vehicles, ~500,000 paid public rides per week, and ~4M autonomous miles per week (its public freeway rides are temporarily paused pending a software update; surface streets run normally) — but it relies on HD-mapped cities and a lidar-heavy sensor stack, which is why expanding to a new city is a multi-quarter operation. Tesla's bet is different: a vision-only, generalized FSD stack that already runs (supervised) across 1.28M consumer vehicles and 10B+ cumulative miles, with the Robotaxi product running an unsupervised variant of that same stack in three Texas cities (Austin, Dallas, Houston). Tesla expanded its Austin geofence to the whole metro (~245 sq mi) on June 3, 2026 — but the active robotaxi fleet is only ~20 vehicles (42 authorized in Texas filings), and Musk has tied real scale to the FSD v15 model rewrite expected late 2026 / early 2027. Tesla also filed for a Nevada permit (up to 5,000 vehicles) on June 5, 2026. Today, Waymo has by far the larger commercial driverless service and fleet; Tesla has the larger consumer autonomy footprint and a faster city-add roadmap if the unsupervised stack proves out at fleet scale. Both can be true at once.

What happened to Cruise?

GM wound down Cruise robotaxi operations in December 2024, citing the cost and time required to scale a competitive robotaxi business. The decision is estimated to reduce GM spending by more than $1 billion per year. Cruise's technology and engineering talent were redirected into GM's personal-vehicle ADAS work, where Super Cruise continues to be developed.

Are there any Chinese robotaxis operating in the US?

No. Baidu Apollo Go (the global volume leader at 250,000+ weekly rides), WeRide, and Pony.ai all operate robotaxi services but none have a US public service. WeRide and Pony.ai have expanded internationally via Uber partnerships (Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Riyadh, Zagreb). The 100%+ US tariff on Chinese EVs effectively closes the door on direct vehicle imports.

Is the Uber robotaxi service real?

Uber doesn't operate its own robotaxis — instead it partners. In the US: Waymo is bookable through the Uber app in Austin and Atlanta. Uber's expanded deal with Lucid and Nuro now covers at least 35,000 Lucid vehicles (up from the 20,000 announced in July 2025), with Uber's total investment in Lucid reaching about $500M; Lucid builds the cars, Nuro supplies the Level 4 self-driving system, and first service is targeted for the San Francisco Bay Area later in 2026. Internationally: WeRide (Dubai/Abu Dhabi/Riyadh), Wayve (London, Tokyo with Nissan), and Pony.ai (Zagreb).

How much does a robotaxi ride cost?

Waymo and Zoox price comparably to UberX or slightly above in their service areas — typically a $2-5 premium per ride for the novelty + dedicated vehicle. Tesla Robotaxi in Austin has been priced as a flat $4.20 per ride at launch as a promotional rate, with regular pricing TBD. International operators charge in local currency at rates comparable to local ride-hail.

Can a robotaxi get a traffic ticket in California?

Starting July 1, 2026, yes. Under new California DMV rules (adopted April 29, 2026, implementing AB 1777), police can issue a 'notice of noncompliance' to the autonomous-vehicle company when a driverless car commits a moving violation — previously, with no human driver, officers could only write parking tickets. The AV operator is effectively treated as the driver and must report each notice to the DMV within 72 hours (24 hours for a serious incident like a crash). Repeat or serious violations can lead the DMV to restrict or suspend a company's permit.

What is SAE Level 4 vs Level 5?

Level 4 means no human driver required, but only within a defined operational design domain — e.g. specific cities, weather conditions, or speeds. Every robotaxi operating commercially today is L4. Level 5 means full automation everywhere, in any conditions — no production system exists at L5 in 2026 and no operator is publicly claiming a near-term L5 product.

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Vehicles with these driver-assist systems

Tesla Model Y Tesla FSD (Supervised) Tesla Model 3 Tesla FSD (Supervised) Rivian R1S Rivian Universal Hands-Free Ford Mustang Mach-E Ford BlueCruise Cadillac Lyriq GM Super Cruise Mercedes-Benz EQS Drive Pilot (L3, eyes-off)

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Methodology & sources

Every operator status, city list, and capability claim on this page is reconciled against primary sources (operator press releases, SEC filings, state DMV/CPUC records, and dated trade reporting) on a monthly cycle. Inline footnotes link to the specific source for each claim. Where two sources conflict, we cite the most recent dated record from the operator or its regulator.

What we deliberately do NOT do: rely on speculative timelines from press tours or social-media announcements without a regulatory filing or live service to corroborate. Robotaxi rollouts have historically slipped by quarters or years; only operators with at least public-rideable service (or a filed permit) are listed as "Active" or "Limited" rather than "Preparing."

Last full verification: July 7, 2026. Refresh cycle: monthly.