Plans for bringing robot taxicabs to Austin have seen bumps in the road lately, with delay after delay for the Tesla robotaxis.
Still, the first of the test vehicles drove on the streets Sunday in the state capital, just in time for new legislation that requires a state permit for self-driving vehicles.
The question is, are they really ready to hit the roads?
There are still some bugs to be worked out, in the opinion of EZLocator founder John Schultz, and drivers, political leaders and businesses have a right to be concerned about the rollout of the vehicles.
"I think the technology is really too early to basically start rolling these things out to the masses."
Schultz says he's seen the robotic vehicles in action on the streets, and despite that technology, they do have the potential to disrupt normal street activity.
"You know, you have something making decisions that could actually have a significant impact on human lives," he says.
The debut of robotaxis on Austin streets last weekend was limited only to certain passengers who were invited to participate in the initial rollout, and there were Tesla employees in the front seats (with passengers sat in the back, just like old fashioned taxicabs and Ubers), with safety as a top issue.
But the limitations such as human oversight in the front seat are not expected to last, when the decisions the vehicles make are finally limited to computerized algo rhythms, it's possible that more time will be needed to work out the bugs in the robotaxi system.
"They should probably take it to a smaller town or a smaller city, where you don't have as much traffic to work out some of the bugs, and there are some bugs there," Schultz adds.
It just depends on whether people are ready to accept and give some trust to computerized vehicles, therefore accepting the machines' street decisions.
"I was posed this question years ago," Schultz says, a question that acts as a kind of philosophical guide to what decisions humans might or might not be willing to accept from these smart "machines."
"You're riding in an autonomous vehicle with automatic driving, and suddenly an 18-wheeler stops in front of you. The vehicle you're in doesn't have time to stop. If it collides with the 18-wheeler, you're going to die. Now, to your left is a family of four, to your right is a motorcycle rider without a helmet. What decision does the system decide to do?"