Fight Obesity with Tech

Free app gives Austinites unlimited access to healthy living tips

Choose Healthier is a free mobile app that connects Central Texans with local health resources.

A new app from local nonprofit It's Time Texas aims to make healthy living accessible for all of Austin. Choose Healthier, launched in conjunction with Dell Children's Medical Center and H-E-B, is a one-stop resource for healthy activities and nutrition tips.

"Our Choose Healthier Mobile App is the easiest way to both promote and discover healthy activities and events for all ages, interests and experience levels in Central Texas," said It's Time Texas Founder and CEO Baker Harrell in a press release.

Users can browse real-time information from local fitness, nutrition and wellness businesses and then rate and share their favorites with other users. The app currently features more than 70,000 activities from 500 businesses, including YMCA, Austin Parks and Recreation, Black Swan Yoga, City Surf and Sustainable Food Center. It's Time Texas also offers a free Choose Healthier Coach Hotline to help people locate healthy resources.

By next summer, It's Time Texas aims to feature 1,000 local businesses and 100,000 activities. In addition, the nonprofit hopes to expand the tool to encompass other metropolitan areas of Texas.

Choose Healthier is available for free download on Apple and Android devices.

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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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