Hot Headlines

Nonstop Austin travel news lead this week most popular stories

Editor's note: Nonstop getaways and restaurant openings lead this round of top stories. Read on for more of the week's most popular headlines.

1. Austin lands eight new nonstop flights with cheap fares. Getting out of town on the cheap just got easier, as Frontier Airlines is introducing eight new nonstop flights to its Austin roster. Introductory fares for one-way tickets start as low as $34.

2. New nonstop flight makes Austin-to-Seattle getaway a breeze. As people pour into Austin for hot fun in the summertime, locals are looking to get the heck out, and one new nonstop flight is making that easier.

3. Here are the three hottest restaurant openings in Austin right now. Austin is on fire with restaurant openings. Three new eateries opened on Monday, July 17, including a modern Mexican restaurant, an all-female venture, and a new location of an old favorite.

4. Downtown Austin wine bar abruptly stops pouring. Another downtown establishment is permanently closing its doors. The Red Room Lounge, a basement wine bar on East Third Street known for its eclectic wine list and NYC feel, shut down on Tuesday, July 18.

5. This Austin ZIP code is the most expensive place to rent in Texas. Move over, 90210. According to a new report from rental website RentCafe, you have to shell out nearly $2,500 a month to rent an apartment in the priciest area in the state, which is located right here in Austin.

We've got all the best reasons for visiting Seattle.

Photo by Kelly Stocker

We've got all the best reasons for visiting Seattle.

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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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