Editor's note: Real estate and travel news lead this round of top stories. Read on for more of the week's most popular headlines.
1. Real estate experts say these are Austin's top neighborhoods right now. It's the season to predict the city's hottest neighborhoods, and the heat is rising in Riverside. The East Austin community ranks as Austin'shottest neighborhood for 2017, according to Redfin's annual predictions.
2. Two new nonstop flights take off from Austin for only $69 each way. Since the start of 2017, five new nonstop flights have been tacked on to the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport schedule. The latest additions are courtesy of Frontier Airlines, who will provide nonstop service to Washington and San Diego this spring.
3. Austin could become like this super expensive U.S. city, mayor warns. If Austin fails to adequately address soaring home prices and apartment rents, the city risks transforming into San Francisco. That was the unsettling vision laid out by Austin Mayor Steve Adler in his annual State of the City speech.
4. This is the ultimate road trip to West Texas' best destinations. Texas lends itself well to adventure. And, when it comes to the ultimate road trip, there’s no better terrain to traverse than West Texas.
5. Is Austin's job market going from hot to not? For years, Austin has been touted as one of the country’s sizzling hot job markets. But these days, local job growth is fizzling, according to new data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Self-driving Roller Coaster
Expect to see more self-driving rideshare vehicles, also known as robotaxis, on Austin roads next year.
Robotaxi company Waymo, which you may have already seen on Austin's roads, is partnering with Uber. At some point next year, customers will be able to use the Uber app to call a self-driving ride.
Austin-based company Avride is in the testing phase and plans to roll out its robotaxis next year.
Currently, Volkswagen ADMT and Amazon's Zoox are in the testing phase in Austin, while Hyundai's Motional is in the mapping phase.
Last year, robotaxi company Cruise paused operations in Austin after the California Department of Motor Vehicles revoked the company's permits to operate driverless vehicles in the state. And last week, General Motors said it would no longer fund the company because of the time and resources needed.
This way of getting around has come with its safety concerns and issues. The city is tracking those concerns. According to the Transportation Department, the problems span from blocking the roads and parking in front of people's homes for weeks with lights beaming through their windows, to actual wrecks.
Since July 2023, robotaxis have been involved in 75 incidents. Only 21 of those incidents happened in 2024. It's important to note that Cruise has not been operating in Austin this year.
Since July 2023, driverless rideshare vehicles have been involved in 22 near collisions, eight collisions and seven instances where driverless taxis ignored directions from the Austin Police Department (APD).
According to the data, at least four of those Austin police incidents happened in recent months. The issues varied from driving through police checkpoints, to malfunctioning and getting stuck at an APD road closure near pedestrians, causing safety concerns.
A Waymo spokesperson said their vehicles have gesture recognition capabilities, which they've been training APD officers on using.
As the report shows, sometimes it does not work and Waymo said it is working to improve that. The spokesperson said that as of just last week, Waymo's First Responder Program has been independently verified by TÜV SÜD, making Waymo the first autonomous vehicle (AV) company to receive third-party validation for our emergency response protocols. They also said the data to date indicates the Waymo Driver is already reducing traffic injuries and fatalities in the places where the company currently operates.
--
Read the full story and watch the video at KVUE.com.
