Prime candidates

Austin gets one step closer to landing Amazon's second headquarters

On January 18, Amazon released its list of the top 20 contenders for HQ2.

Photo by Wallstplaybook.com

Austin, which has been lauded as a top contender for Amazon's second headquarters, appears on the new shortlist for the e-commerce giant’s new $5 billion project.

On January 18, Amazon revealed it narrowed the field of 238 North American candidates for its so-called HQ2 to 20 finalists, including Austin and Dallas. Houston didn’t make the cut, while San Antonio didn’t submit a bid.

Seattle-based Amazon says it eventually will create up to 50,000 jobs at its second headquarters. In announcing the 20 finalists, the company emphasizes that HQ2 will be a true headquarters, not a satellite office. Here in Austin, recent speculation has pointed to Burnet Road in North Austin as a potential development site for the new project.

Aside from the potential for 50,000 high-paying jobs, Amazon HQ2 is expected to generate tens of thousands of additional jobs and billions of dollars in additional investment in the metro area that lands the project.

Amazon says it evaluated each of the 238 bids based on criteria outlined in the company’s call for proposals. Now, Amazon will work with the 20 finalists to dig deeper into their proposals, request further information, and evaluate how they’d accommodate the company’s hiring plans and workforce needs. Amazon plans to make a decision about HQ2 in 2018.

“Thank you to all 238 communities that submitted proposals. Getting from 238 to 20 was very tough — all the proposals showed tremendous enthusiasm and creativity,” Holly Sullivan, an executive with Amazon Public Policy, says in a release. “Through this process we learned about many new communities across North America that we will consider as locations for future infrastructure investment and job creation.”

In alphabetical order, here’s the list of the 20 finalists for Amazon HQ2:

Atlanta
Austin
Boston
Chicago
Columbus, Ohio
Dallas
Denver
Indianapolis
Los Angeles
Miami
Montgomery County, Maryland
Nashville
Newark, New Jersey
New York City
Northern Virginia
Philadelphia
Pittsburgh
Raleigh, North Carolina
Toronto
Washington, D.C.

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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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