Dog Days

Local dog-sitting service, The Barking Garage, watches your pup while you shop

The Barking Garage is a dog-sitting service that watches your pooch while you shop.

Photo by Sheila Wilson

KVUE — Just outside the Nordstom Rack at the Gateway Shopping Center in Northwest Austin sits a big yellow car hauler that reads, "TheBarkingGarage.com: Park your dog here while you shop."

Mary Traverse is the owner of the new business. Last month, she decided to buy the yellow car hauler, decorate it, insulate it, and install air conditioning. She filled it with colorful cages of different sizes, all complete with water bowls.

Traverse said her idea for on-site doggie storage did not come right away. "I've been racking my brains for a couple of years," said Traverse, a chiropractor who is also a certified animal chiropractor.

Traverse said The Barking Garage came about out of desperation and need. "I live a little bit outside of town, and I love to have my dogs with me, and I just can't do it. I can't even run into the grocery store," said Traverse.

She's from Oatmeal, a small town near Bertram in Burnet County. "A lot of times, I make a special trip back into town on a Saturday to run my errands just because my dogs would be safe," said Traverse.

Last weekend was the second weekend for The Barking Garage to be open. No customers yet, but "the stores are really happy to have us here, because they're in a hard spot; they don't want to call the cops on their clients," said Traverse.

Gary Biggers owns a 55-pound huskie, but he didn't bring her shopping. He may next time, now that he's heard about The Barking Garage. "It makes life so much easier. I don't know what's in there, but I know it's cool. Huskies are hot in the summer, especially here, so I think that's a great idea and I want to see more of those pop up," said Biggers.

Right now, The Barking Garage is open on weekends: Saturdays from 10 am to 7 pm and Sundays from 11 am to 5 pm. Prices start at $10 an hour with a half-hour minimum.

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Read the full story and see the video on KVUE.com.

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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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