For it to count as a robotaxi fare, there must be no Tesla employee in the car and the car must drive to the customer without anyone in it. This would technically include things like a remote driving system where a human remotely is driving the car.
Update 2025-05-12 (PST) (AI summary of creator comment): A train is unlikely to count as the vehicle for the robotaxi fare.
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1.00@DavidFWatson
https://x.com/DirtyTesLa/status/1963610813047914665
Musk replied
"The safety driver is just there for the first few months to be extra safe. Should be no safety driver by end of year."
This is of course a bit of a slip from
Elon Musk stating they will be removed within a month or two after initial deployment in late June,
https://www.teslarati.com/elon-musk-hints-when-tesla-could-reduce-safety-monitors-robotaxi/
https://x.com/robotaxi/status/1963436732575072723
Safety monitors are only in the driver's seat for trips that involve highway driving, as a self-imposed cautious first step toward expanding to highways
That seems a bit odd, but maybe it is possible that different cars are used for trips involving highways?
@ChristopherRandles Highways = higher speeds, so it's best to be more cautious at the beginning. Waymo does not do highways yet (they do tests carrying their own employees only)
@MarkosGiannopoulos
Safety driver moving locations depending on the ride sounds unlikely to me but could be done with different cars but that might mean longer waits for rides.
The electrek article suggestion that it is new regulations Texas has brought in causing the move to drivers seat sounded more plausible to me. If trips without using highways are done with safety monitor in passenger seat then it must be the highways not the regulations right? However, all rides with monitor in drivers seat could be due to either or both. Do we know if there are any recent rides with monitor in passenger seat? Self imposed might be rather disingenuous?
If all rides are now done with safety monitor in drivers seat, does this seem like Tesla prefers to blame highways as they don't want a narrative that the authorities are toughening up regulations to make it more difficult for them being spread about?
Edit:
I was wrong it seems it is the highway driving not the regulations
@ChristopherRandles I think “a bit of a slip” is underselling it:
Texas SB 2807 requires L4/L5 authorization for commercial driverless rides; Tesla’s stack is L2 (driver must monitor), so a safety driver isn’t optional for paid trips in TX right now
Even if the tech improves, driverless paid rides in TX need L4/L5 certification and state approval first. That’s a statutory requirement, and it applies to all public roadways, not just highways. Fleet mix doesn’t matter—driverless + paid still needs L4/L5 authorization.
@DavidFWatson The new law does not apply yet. The related regulations from the Texas DMV have not been finalised. Furthermore, there is no L4/L5 certification in the law.
@DavidFWatson Is there reporting on the safety drivers still being in the passenger seat after September 1st? Or like, photos? (Maybe you’re in Texas and have seen it?).
https://legiscan.com/TX/bill/SB2807/2025
Status: Passed on June 20 2025 - 100% progression
Action: 2025-06-20 - Effective on 9/1/25
§ 545.455(c)
In addition to satisfying the requirements of Subsection (b), a person may not operate an automated motor vehicle to transport property or passengers in furtherance of a commercial enterprise on a highway or street in this state without a human driver unless: (1) the person receives and maintains authorization to operate automated motor vehicles from the department under Section 545.456
§ 545.456
Sec. 545.456. AUTHORIZATION TO OPERATE AUTOMATED MOTOR VEHICLE. (a) The board by rule shall prescribe the form and manner by which a person may apply to the department for authorization to operate automated motor vehicles … without a human driver.
@DavidFWatson “SB 2807 requires the board and the Public Safety Commission to adopt rules to implement certain provisions in SB 2807 regarding automated motor vehicles by December 1, 2025. However, a person is not required to comply with Subchapter J of Chapter 545 of the Transportation Code, as amended by SB 2807, until the 90th day after the effective date of rules adopted by the board and the Public Safety Commission. The department anticipates that the computer programming to implement SB 2807 will be completed in April of 2026.” https://www.txdmv.gov/sites/default/files/body-files/New_Chapter_220_Summary_Resumen.pdf
@DavidFWatson "Is there reporting on the safety drivers still being in the passenger seat after September 1st?"
Yes
@DavidFWatson Yes my reading is if the rules for the applications have not been set up then no one can apply and they cannot operate.
So far I have only seen some requirements for the application to state vehicle(s) are
equipped with a recording device, as defined by Section 547.615(a), installed by the manufacturer of the automated motor vehicle or automated driving system;
equipped with an automated driving system in compliance with applicable federal law, including federal motor vehicle safety standards;
capable of achieving a minimal risk condition if a failure of the automated driving system occurs that renders the system unable to perform the dynamic driving task relevant to its intended operational design domain;
I don't see a requirement to get it "qualified" as a level 4 system.
@ChristopherRandles As the Transportation Code has not been updated, the previous Code applies. Tesla can continue as is with no issue.
@MarkosGiannopoulos sorta wild sequence to imagine: Texas has passed legislation requiring them to get authorization to operate with no driver, they move to have a driver (at least in some cars) but without the requirement being in effect.
Then they remove the driver, despite the looming requirement that they apply before doing so, and this resolves YES because the TX law isn’t fully in effect yet.
It’s certainly a possibility
@DavidFWatson Here's another possibility: the new Transportation Code may pass soon, and Tesla gets an AV license from the Texas DMV, but still has a safety monitor on the passenger's seat, and that would still be "driverless" according to SB2807 (because the car does all the driving).
This specific market, though, does not care about all that because it demands zero employees in the car.
https://www.teslarati.com/watch-first-true-tesla-robotaxi-intervention-safety-monitor/
Seems insufficient to cause drop from 92% to 68% ?