Keep Austin Local

Austin's not a top U.S. tourism destination and that's good news

A new report says that out of 50 U.S. cities, Austin is only the No. 23 tourism destination. For a town that prides itself on consistently stealing the top spot on "best of" lists — best cities for dating, job seekers and millennials come to mind — the meager ranking seems like a blow. But is it really?

If we dig further into the study, we find that New York-based tourism marketing firm Resonance Consultancy Ltd. considered each destination (those with medium or large airports) from a business and leisure perspective.

ABIA the king of direct flights? No. And major league sports teams? Sorry y'all, UT doesn't count.

On the business side, number of direct flights, Fortune 500 headquarters, hotel rooms, and size of convention center and exhibit space were measured. And for leisure, Resonance analyzed Trip Advisor and Yelp entries (covering everything from outdoor activities, parks and amusements to museums, shopping and nightlife), only considering those rated very good or excellent.

To round out the analysis, Resonance took into account the number of major league sports teams and crime rate statistics.

ABIA the king of direct flights? No. The Capital City a hub for Fortune 500 companies? Not really. And major league sports teams? Sorry y'all, UT doesn't count.

Instead of huffing and puffing about a mediocre showing on yet another hot-or-not report, we can celebrate what this rating really means. Local is still king — and Austin is, for now, still a little weird. And the study picks up on that.

"It’s not for nothing that the city’s unofficial motto is 'Keep Austin Weird,'" the study says. "Austin’s residents are passionate about protecting small business, which means that the 20 million tourists who visit each year benefit from localism in all aspects, from culture and history to food and especially music."

While the study gives a nod to homegrown attractions that have shaped our culture (Austin City Limits, SXSW, Austin City Limits Music Festival), it also recognizes a changing of the guard.

The inaugural X Games Austin, Resonance says, drew 160,000 attendees in June. And a massive hotel development boom will add 4,000 rooms and cement Austin as one of the top hotel markets in Texas. Add to that international events like Formula 1 and our job growth rate and you've got a recipe for change.

Despite more than 100 people moving here per day and houses selling at an unheard of pace, we can hold onto one shining truth. We're keeping Austin weird — or at least a little more local — for now.

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Defensive Driving

Austin-based Tesla faces new probe focused on remote driving feature

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The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is investigating 2.6 million Teslas.

Federal regulators have opened an investigation into 2.6 million Teslas after reports of crashes involving the use of company technology that allows drivers to remotely command their vehicle to return to them, or move to another location, using a phone app.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration also said Tuesday, January 7 that Austin-based Tesla did not report any of the accidents. Tesla is under order to report crashes on “publicly accessible roads” involving vehicles being operated through its autonomous driving technology.

The new investigation follows another probe launched in October looking into the company's “Full Self-Driving” system after getting reports of crashes in low-visibility conditions, including one that killed a pedestrian. That investigation covers 2.4 million Teslas from the 2016 through 2024 model years.

Tesla did not respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press.

One driver filed a complaint after a crash while using Tesla's “Actually Smart Summon” technology and NHTSA is looking into another three similar incidents based on media reports, the NHTSA said. The agency is looking into 12 total incidents reported by users of the technology.

Each of the vehicles failed to detect posts and other parked vehicles, according to the NHTSA.

Regulators say the vehicles struck objects because the users had "too little reaction time to avoid a crash, either with the available line of sight or releasing the phone app button, which stops the vehicle’s movement.”

Shares of Tesla Inc. slid more than 4 percent in late afternoon trading Tuesday.

Musk has complained that U.S. regulations are too onerous and are holding back the development of self-driving cars. Ethics experts are worried that once President-elect Donald Trump takes office, Musk will push him to ease oversight of Tesla, which just suffered its first decline in annual sales in more than a decade.

Musk donated an estimated $250 million to Trump's presidential campaign and is a frequent guest at Trump's Mar-a-Lago, vetting cabinet nominees and meeting with foreign heads of state. Trump has put Musk in charge of an advisory group, the Department of Government Efficiency, that will recommend where to cut government expenses and staff at federal agencies and reduce regulation.

The NHTSA said it will look into the top speed that Teslas can reach when users deploy its “summons” technology, as well as restrictions on public roads and line of sights requirements. It also said it expects to check for any “connectivity delays" with the app that could result in increased stopping distance.

Tesla’s Model 3 owner’s manual says that its “summons” feature is designed for use only in parking lots and driveways on private property and is disabled on public roads.

The new probe covers 2016-2025 Model S and X vehicles, 2017-2025 Model 3, 2020-2025 Model Y equipped with Tesla's Full Self-Driving driver assistance system.

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