Civic Summit Spotlight

What does it take to survive in Texas? KLRU Civic Summit discusses poverty, andgiving families A Fighting Chance

Currently, there are 4.4 million Texans living in poverty; 1.8 million of those are Texas children. So what does it take for a family to survive and thrive in Texas? How do families stay afloat — or get back on their feet — when sudden disruptions to their financial situations, unplanned medical expenses or long-term unemployment strike?

These are the questions that will be explored by KLRU’s Civic Summit: What It Takes for Texas Families, airing on Thursday, December 13 at 8:30 p.m. The program, filmed at KLRU’s Studio 6A last week, is an open dialogue where community leaders, advocates and citizens discuss the challenges faced by Texas families attempting to stay above the poverty line.

Moderated by Sherri Greenberg, Director, Center for Politics and Governance at the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin, the panel includes staff from the Center for Public Policy Priorities and Foundation Communities.

In the open forum, the panel considers situations faced by the 4.4 million Texans living in poverty, situations highlighted by a new documentary short film A Fighting Chance. The film, produced by the Center for Public Policy Priorities (CPPP), in conjunction with Alpheus Media, will premiere on KLRU in advance of the Civic Summit.

A Fighting Chance chronicles the journeys of five Texas families — living in poverty — as they fight to meet their most basic needs. Some families struggle with putting food on the table, or finding stable jobs with living wages. Others fight to provide suitable housing for their family, or to meet the challenge of mounting medical bills after unforeseen medical complications arise.

The families featured in A Fighting Chance (from Austin, San Antonio and Bryan, TX) allow viewers into the very real struggles of their every day lives in order to expose the very harsh reality of poverty in our own backyard.

According to CPPP, the film aims to “shed light on what it really takes for families to survive and thrive in Texas” and “expose the tough choices these must make — sacrifices that most of us could not imagine.” A Fighting Chance is a heartfelt, honest, and eye-opening look at a staggering statistic for Texans.

Panelists for Civic Summit are joined by one of the family members chronicled in the documentary, adding additional perspective, and weight, to the comprehensive dialogue.

A Fighting Chanceairs on KLRU on Thursday, December 13 at 8 p.m. It will be followed by KLRU’s Civic Summit: What It Takes for Texas Families at 8:30 p.m.

Watch the trailer here:

unspecified

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.

traffic self-driving cars innovation