Tesla Robotaxi does not allow selecting points in part of Houston, US, service area — Electrek
In Houston, US, the Tesla Robotaxi app does not allow users to select some pickup points in the city center, although they are located within the service's stated operating area. This was reported by Electrek, citing Ethan McCanna, founder of the crowdsourced service Robotaxi Tracker and a former Tesla employee.
After Tesla expanded its stated geofence on Monday, its outline took the shape of a rocket: the area extended from northwestern Harris County to central Houston and Bellaire. McCanna published a video in which the app rejects a pickup point in the city center, stating that the location is unavailable and suggesting another place be selected.
Route around downtown
McCanna called the Houston area the most notable case he has seen in which the boundaries of an autonomous service's operations do not match the areas actually available for booking. In his opinion, the shape of the geofence may have been chosen to create the silhouette of Starship.
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He also provided a trip estimate under which the robotaxi was to pick up a passenger at 14:05 in the eastern part of downtown and take them to Houston Police Headquarters on Travis Street at 14:48. These points are located a few blocks from each other, but the proposed route went through Midtown, the Museum District and the Texas Medical Center area before turning back north.
McCanna suggested that the vehicles may be avoiding railroad crossings in the city center. At the same time, he said that the service in Houston generally made a positive impression on him due to acceptable waiting times and driving, which he rated higher than his recent Waymo rides.
Waymo area adjustment
Robotaxi Tracker also adjusted its data on Waymo's area in Orlando: its size was reduced by 10 square miles, or 8.4%, to 109 square miles. The airport was mistakenly included on the published area map, although the Waymo app did not yet allow it to be selected as a destination.
