Never Leave Home Again

Austin's 'Favor-ite' delivery service carted off by H-E-B

H-E-B and Favor Delivery are now a package deal.

Courtesy photo

Austin-based Favor Delivery, the cult delivery app beloved by busy parents and hungover college kids alike, has been purchased by Texas grocery giant H-E-B. On February 15, the San Antonio-based chain announced it was acquiring Favor for an undisclosed amount.

Favor has been a game-changer since it came onto the scene in 2013. Suddenly, for a slight fee, users could order almost anything via Favor's mobile app, and within an hour or so a friendly driver clad in a light blue tuxedo T-shirt would show up at the front door. The service has become so ubiquitous in Austin that it's even become a verb. ("Don't want to leave your house? Just Favor it.")

That kind of cult-like following was enough to attract the attention of Texas' biggest grocery chain.

"Over the past two years, we have established a strong working relationship with Favor that has proven to be immensely successful for both companies," said Martin Otto, H-E-B’s chief operating officer, in a release. "We see a unique opportunity with this partnership to support and accelerate each other’s growth through the sharing of experience, insight, and resources.” Currently, Favor operates in more than 50 cities across Texas.

H-E-B also confirmed it will retain all Favor employees and the more than 50,000 delivery drivers, also known as runners. H-E-B also confirmed to CultureMap that, yes, you'll still be able to Favor just about anything.

H-E-B isn't the only grocery chain investing in technology-based delivery. Earlier this month, Amazon-owned Whole Foods Market announced it was using parent corporation's Prime service to deliver groceries for free within a two-hour window.

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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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