The Nevada Transportation Authority voted unanimously on August 20 to let Tesla, Uber and Waymo begin paid robotaxi service in Clark County, home to Las Vegas — one of the largest permitted self-driving car rollouts to date in the United States.
The three companies received Autonomous Vehicle Network Company permits that together set a ceiling of roughly 8,000 driverless vehicles over the next 12 months, according to multiple outlets that covered Thursday’s meeting. Tesla was authorized for up to 5,000 vehicles, Waymo for up to 1,000, and Uber for up to 1,000 operated through its autonomous-vehicle subsidiary, Aviari Services, in partnership with Hyundai-backed Motional and Amazon’s Zoox. Zoox separately already holds a permit for 100 vehicles in the county.
Nevada Department of Business and Industry director Kristopher Sanchez said the state has “established a regulatory framework for autonomous vehicle network companies that is intended to provide a clear process for innovation while maintaining regulatory oversight.”
A ceiling, not a forecast
The approved fleet sizes are maximums, not deployment targets. Tesla’s Cybercab chief engineer, Eric Early, said the 5,000-vehicle figure “has always been a ceiling” for the company, adding that reaching half that number would already be a strong outcome. The new permits build on a narrower approval Tesla received in late July that limited it to roughly 10 test vehicles confined to a restricted stretch of the Strip. Under the new permits, each company must begin service within 120 days and is required to report crashes and keep maintenance records.
Rides to Harry Reid International Airport are not yet included — pickups there need separate authorization from the Clark County Department of Aviation.
Taxi operators push back
Representatives of the Livery Operators Association and local taxi companies opposed the applications, arguing that adding thousands of robotaxis so quickly could worsen congestion and squeeze out existing drivers. The authority approved all three permits regardless.
The move adds Nevada to a short list of states — including California, Texas and Arizona — where several companies now compete for paid autonomous rides, and follows Uber’s robotaxi expansion into Europe earlier this year. For background on the technology behind the vehicles, see how AI powers self-driving cars.