Keep on Truckin’

Everyone really is moving to Austin, according to this report

New residents keep flooding into Austin.

As if we needed more evidence that new residents keep flooding into Austin, DIY moving company U-Haul ranks Austin fifth among its top 10 U.S. destination cities for 2016.

“Austin has been ranked the best place to start a small business, the coolest city, and the best place to live in America,” Austin Mayor Steve Adler says in a post on U-Haul’s website. “The only surprise here is that Austin ranks so low on this list.”

U-Haul’s top destination cities for 2016 are ranked according to the total number of arriving one-way U-Haul truck rentals to a city during the year. This ranking does not take into account U-Haul departures from those cities.

U-Haul says Austin was the only U.S. location to rank in the top 10 for destination cities (total arrivals) and for growth cities (net arrivals over departures) in 2016. Based on last year’s figures, Austin was U-Haul’s No. 2 growth city among places with a population of at least 50,000, up from No. 3 in 2015 but down from No. 1 in 2014.

“Austin saw a bump of nearly 2 percent in year-over-year U-Haul arrivals, continuing its run as one of the top five busiest U.S. cities for incoming U-Haul trucks,” the company says.

U-Haul hasn’t revealed the top destination city for 2016, but the No. 4 city is Orlando, and the No. 3 spot goes to neighboring San Antonio.

Behind Austin on the destination list are Las Vegas, No. 6; Brooklyn, New York, No. 7; Philadelphia, No. 8; Kansas City, No. 9; and Charlotte, North Carolina, No. 10.

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Self-driving Roller Coaster

More self-driving cars expected to roll out in Austin for 2025

Photo courtesy of Waymo via KVUE

Various brands offering self-driving cars are on-and-off in Austin.

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.

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