Tesla has asked the San Francisco, San Jose, and Oakland airports about acquiring permits to operate a ride-hailing service at each location, according to Politico.
Tesla appears to have contacted each airport right around the time it started up a nascent charter service in California in late July. In the case of the San Francisco and Oakland airports, representatives told the outlet that they had been contacted, but had yet to meet with Tesla. The San Jose airport spokesperson confirmed no application for a permit had been filed and that Tesla had asked about the permit process.
Tesla currently lacks the proper permits to run a true ride-hail service, let alone a robotaxi network, in California. Instead, it’s operating a more-limited charter service. Those are not supposed to involve any autonomous vehicle operations, though videos of the rides have shown that the company’s drivers are using its Full Self-Driving (Supervised) software on the rides being offered. Tesla’s FSD (Supervised) is an advanced driver assistance system with some automated driving features that requires the driver to pay attention.
In order to spin up a larger ride-hail service in California, Tesla will need a permit from the California Public Utilities Commission. And if the fleet is comprised of autonomous vehicles, it will also need permits from the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV).
The California DMV is currently trying to stop Tesla from selling vehicles in the state because it believes the company has made far-too-aggressive promises about its cars’ self-driving abilities.
Airports are often picky when it comes to allowing new transportation services. A decade ago, they were a battleground for Uber and Lyft, companies that were trying to edge in on the business of traditional taxis and limousine services.
In recent years, airports have become a target of budding autonomous vehicle services.
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Waymo has been offering rides to and from Phoenix’s Sky Harbor International for roughly two years now. And just last week, the company received permission to do the same at the San Jose airport. (Rides to and from the San Jose airport will start later this year after Waymo completes testing.) Airports are popular targets because they represent a huge business opportunity; Waymo says the Phoenix airport is its most popular destination in the city.
Tesla began testing the first version of its invite-only robotaxi network in Austin, Texas with around a dozen cars. It has expanded that network’s boundaries to cover much of the greater Austin area, though the company still appears to have just around 20 to 30 cars in operation, and has moved the “safety monitor” to the drivers’ seat.
Texas does not require as much transparency as California does when it comes to testing autonomous vehicles, so it’s difficult to say how well it’s gone for the company. There have been a number of documented problems, though no major crashes or other incidents.
