Articles · Driverless transport
Texas authorized what was already driving
Texas created a required authorization for commercial driverless vehicles after autonomous freight was already operating. A Senate hearing asks what deployment has meant for safety.
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Texas senators are preparing to examine driverless vehicles that are already on the road. The Transportation Committee's charge asks how deployment has proceeded under the state's authorization law and what it has meant for traffic collisions.
The Department of Motor Vehicles says the law created a required authorization for commercial driverless operation. That requirement took effect after Aurora announced regular driverless freight deliveries between Dallas and Houston.
Different roads, different operations
Waymo announced that its Houston robotaxi service had opened to the general public. Kodiak described driverless hauling for Atlas Energy Solutions in Permian Basin oil fields. Aurora described a network of driverless freight routes.
These are company accounts of distinct services. A passenger trip, an oil-field load and a highway freight delivery are not interchangeable measures of deployment. The companies' mileage and load figures don't establish comparative safety by themselves.
The safety question needs a denominator
The federal automated-driving incident dataset identifies reporting entities and report types. Texas DPS publishes first-responder interaction information without an incident count on that page. The state's crash-data page does not name a separate automated-driving category.
Those records do not, on their own, answer the committee's request to quantify collision effects. Counting deployments and counting incident reports are different tasks. A safety comparison needs evidence that links the relevant operations to the outcomes being measured.
What the hearing can add
The Legislature lists a public hearing and asks for recommendations on continued deployment and public safety. The charge is a request for findings. It is not itself a finding that the existing authorization system has made travel safer.
Sources for this story
- Texas Legislature Online, Upcoming Senate Committee Meetings
- Legislative Reference Library of Texas, Interim Hearings, Week of August 24th, 2026
- Texas Department of Motor Vehicles, Automated Vehicles Regulatory Program
- Waymo, From the road, August 20th, 2026
- Kodiak, How Kodiak Trained Its Driverless Tech To Haul Triple Trailers
- Aurora Innovation, Aurora Begins Commercial Driverless Trucking in Texas
- Aurora Innovation, Aurora Expands Driverless Trucking Service from Fort Worth to El Paso
- Aurora Innovation, Aurora Launches Second-Generation Driverless Trucks
- NHTSA, Standing General Order 2021-01 ADS Incident Reports dataset
- Texas Department of Public Safety, Connected and Autonomous Vehicles
- Texas Department of Transportation, Crash Reports and Records
Claim-by-claim verification · 32 claims
The Texas Senate's own upcoming committee meetings list carries an entry for Tuesday, August 25th, 2026.
Tuesday, August 25, 2026
The Senate Transportation entry on that date gives its location as hearing room E1.016.
Location: E1.016 (Hearing Room)
One charge before the Senate Committee on Transportation directs it to study how driverless vehicles have been deployed under Senate Bill 2807.
Study the deployment of autonomous vehicle technology as authorized by SB 2807
The same charge names three Texas agencies whose rule making is in scope, then instructs the committee to quantify the effect on traffic related collisions.
including rule-making adopted by the Texas Department of Public Safety, the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles and the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. Quantify the impact on traffic-related collisions.
The charge closes by asking for recommendations on continued driverless deployment and public safety.
Make recommendations to ensure that the continued deployment of autonomous vehicles prioritizes public safety and aligns with the evolving technological landscape on Texas roads.
The driverless charge is not the committee's only business that day. A second charge covers rail grade crossings.
Prioritizing Public Safety at Rail-Grade Crossings
A third charge before the same committee covers commercial driver licensing.
Strengthening Commercial Driver License Standards and Oversight
Senate Bill 2807 of the 89th Regular Session is captioned as a bill about motor vehicles including automated motor vehicles.
Relating to motor vehicles, including automated motor vehicles; creating a criminal offense.
The Texas Department of Motor Vehicles states that SB 2807 created a required authorization for commercial driverless operation on Texas roads.
The 89th Texas Legislature passed Senate Bill 2807 (89R) in 2025 creating a required authorization for the commercial operation of automated vehicles on Texas roads.
That authorization became a live requirement on May 28th, 2026.
All companies operating automated vehicles commercially on or after May 28, 2026, are required to maintain an active authorization with TxDMV.
Waymo opened its Houston robotaxi service to the general public rather than to an invitation list.
Starting today, anyone in Houston can download the Waymo app and hail a fully autonomous ride.
Waymo states it carried more than one hundred thousand Houston riders off its interest list between February and the public opening.
Since opening our service in February, we’ve welcomed more than 100,000 riders in Houston from our interest list
Waymo's post identifies Raul Gallegos by the title First Vice President of the National Federation for the Blind of Texas.
Raul Gallegos, First Vice President of the National Federation for the Blind of Texas
Inside his quoted remark the organisation is named the National Federation of the Blind of Texas, and it welcomes the full Houston opening.
The National Federation of the Blind of Texas is happy to hear the news that Waymo will be fully available in Houston.
Kodiak states it launched driverless triple trailer hauling with its customer Atlas Energy Solutions.
We recently launched driverless technology that hauls triple trailers in collaboration with our customer, Atlas Energy Solutions.
Kodiak states a fleet of 35 driverless trucks ran with nobody in the cab in the Permian Basin oil fields as of June 30th, 2026.
These triple-trailer trucks are now plying routes as part of a fleet of 35 driverless trucks with no humans in the cab as of June 30, 2026, and they’re owned and operated by Atlas in the oil fields of the Permian Basin.
Kodiak states the driverless triples have carried more than 1,400 loads since February.
Since launching triples in February, the Kodiak Driver has carried more than 1,400 loads in the triples configuration.
Kodiak's securities filing puts the same figure at 35 customer owned driverless vehicles at the end of the second quarter, up seven in the quarter.
Deployed seven additional driverless trucks, for a total of 35 Customer-Owned Driverless Vehicles as of the end of Q2
The same filing says driverless trucks now cover a second simultaneous load out point on the 42 mile Dune Express sand conveyor.
Expanded driverless truck deployment to cover a second simultaneous load-out point along Atlas’s 42-mile Dune Express sand conveyor system
Aurora began regular driverless freight deliveries between Dallas and Houston.
Aurora began regular driverless customer deliveries between Dallas and Houston this week.
That announcement is dated May 1st, 2025, which is the date every span in this run is measured from. c22's own words are that deliveries began that week, so the spans are floors.
May 01, 2025 6:00am EDT
At that launch Aurora reported over 1,200 driverless miles completed.
To date, the Aurora Driver has completed over 1,200 miles without a driver.
Aurora's second Texas lane runs 600 miles from Fort Worth to El Paso and opened six months after the Dallas to Houston route.
The launch of the 600-mile lane from Fort Worth to El Paso, just six months after the inaugural Dallas to Houston route, marks the fastest scaling to a second market in the U.S. self-driving industry.
That expansion is dated October 28th, 2025.
October 28, 2025 4:15pm EDT
By that announcement Aurora reported passing one hundred thousand driverless miles on public roads.
surpasses 100,000 driverless miles on public roads
Aurora states its commercial network runs 10 driverless routes across the Sun Belt.
Aurora plans to deploy the new fleet across its commercial network, which currently encompasses 10 driverless routes throughout the U.S. Sun Belt, to serve additional customers.
The second generation driverless launch is dated July 22nd, 2026.
July 22, 2026 9:00am EDT
The federal incident dataset for automated driving systems records the reporting entity and the report type for each filing.
Report ID,Report Version,Reporting Entity,Report Type
The Texas Department of Public Safety page on connected and autonomous vehicles takes first responder interaction plans and publishes no incident count.
Connected and Autonomous Vehicles
The Texas Department of Transportation publishes statewide crash records and its crash data page names no autonomous or automated driving category.
Crash Reports and Records
The Legislature's own listing types the August 25th Transportation meeting as a public hearing and gives the room.
Transportation Type: Public Hearing Location: E1.016 (Hearing Room)
Waymo's Houston post is dated August 20th, 2026.
August 20, 2026 - From the road - Waymo