Hail a Lift

Influential Austinites roll out ride-sharing solution to replace Uber

Local nonprofit RideAustin is the city's newest ride-sharing service looking to fill the Uber and Lyft gap.

UPDATE: RideAustin went live on June 16, and an Android version of the app became available in August. The ride-hailing service is currently covering the downtown area as well as the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. More neighborhoods and the charity portion of the app are coming soon.

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Uber and Lyft are gone, and you're probably aware that all of Austin has an opinion on the departure. Regardless of where you stand on Prop 1, a rather pressing question remains: Who will fill the void left by Uber and Lyft?

A new Transportation Network Company (TNC) by the name of RideAustin hopes to. The nonprofit ride-sharing platform is led by Joe Liemandt of Trilogy, Andy Tryba of Crossover, and other high-profile members of the Austin community. Like other TNCs in town, they're hoping to provide the city with what it wants — a reliable and affordable ride-share service.

TNCs currently operating in Austin include GetMe, Fare, Wingz, and zTrip. Of the four, it's difficult to say which is the current leader of the pack, as they seem to be in a shared scramble to scale up to the point where they'll resemble what ride-share users have come to expect. This continued development may explain why some Austinites haven't bothered with any of these apps and are still using Uber and Lyft by setting a pickup spot outside of the city limits, then calling the driver and giving them their actual location.

Unlike Uber and Lyft, RideAustin is falling in line with the city’s background check requirements and will fingerprint all drivers. RideAustin is also unique in that its nonprofit status will allow it to "pay drivers more and keep fares low and prioritize our charitable work." The charity portion of RideAustin allows users to round up their fare to the next dollar and donate that amount to an organization of their choice.

The RideAustin app for iPhones is live now, but the service (and an Android version of the app) won't launch until June. To better understand some of the intricacies of the service, CultureMap caught up with Joe Deshotel, a representative for RideAustin.

CultureMap: Where will RideAustin initially service?

Joe Deshotel: The initial launch will be limited to Central Austin and the airport so we can control quality of service during the phased roll out. The smoother things go, the sooner we will expand our coverage area to include the entire city. The limited service area is for ride origination and will not limit riders' destinations.

CM: Will the app tell you how long until the driver arrives? Will it offer a fare prediction?

JD: Yes and yes.

CM: There's been talk about having an opt-in surge (or skip the line, if you will) feature in the app. Could you explain what that is?

JD: This feature will not be available in the initial version of the app but our developers are looking at how to create such a function. This idea came from trying to balance the needs of both riders and drivers. Drivers love surge pricing but it doesn't work for everyone, so we want to give riders the option to opt-in to get a ride quicker.

CM: Do you have more information on how the "rounding up" of the fare will go towards charities? How will users choose a charity?

JD: We're still working through the details, but riders will choose from the charities available through the app. It will only round up to the nearest dollar.

CM: Once drivers sign up for RideAustin, they'll be contacted to set up a time to get fingerprinted. What's the expected turnaround time for this process? Do you have a projection on how many drivers will be available once you launch?

JD: We have an ambitious goal to get thousands of drivers through the onboarding process before the end of June. We have set up a driver onboarding location at Crowne Plaza where drivers can have their cars inspected. After providing the requisite documentation, they will be handed a voucher to cover the cost of fingerprinting. Crowne Plaza is conveniently located within walking distance of the IdentoGo fingerprinting location.

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Interested in signing up as a RideAustin driver? Get more information here.

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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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