Policy · Regulation
Bay Area Still Has a Driver: California Robotaxi Stays Supervised
Tesla's San Francisco-area service continues with a safety driver in the seat, even as six Texas and Florida metros run unsupervised.

California is the market Tesla cannot yet run the way it runs Texas.
The Bay Area Robotaxi service still puts a person in the driver's seat. Tesla holds a TCP permit for the rides. Full driverless operation in the state requires a different approval path than the one Texas and Florida have allowed.
That split now defines the network. Six metros have unsupervised cars. One has a driver. Cybercab, which has no wheel for that driver to hold, is not the car you send to the Bay Area under today's rules.
Tesla has not said when it will file for unsupervised California service. Until it does, the most valuable autonomous market in the country remains a supervised sideline.
Priya Raman covers federal safety files, state permits, and the rules a wheel-less cab has to clear.


