Robotaxis Are Back In Las Vegas, And This Time They’re Free

Robot Taxis, also referred to as "Robotaxies", have just been launched by Uber, exclusively in Las Vegas. It's the first time ever that these autonomous vehicles will be available to hail from the Uber app. Uber's partnering company is called Motional, which is a joint venture between Hyundai and Aptiv.

Motional has been testing its robotaxis for over four years now, in partnership with Lyft. According to theverge.com, the venture began as a pilot that lasted a week during the Annual Consumer Electronics show in 2018. Since then, their robotaxis have completed over 100,000 trips with passengers.

As Lyft's main competitor, it was just a matter of time before Uber jumped on the robot bandwagon. Although, this isn't the first time Uber has launched autonomous vehicles. They made headlines back in 2017 when one of their robotaxis killed a woman, forcing them to shut down.

Now, Uber is back with the robotaxis. But for the first time, the autonomous vehicles are available on the Uber app. Uber is taking precautions with this launch. Following the same agenda that similar companies have done. Uber and Motional will have safety drivers behind the wheel of these vehicles, to take over in case something goes wrong.

Since Uber is exclusively launching this in Las Vegas, they're not charging passenger during the testing. But both Motional and Uber say that fares will be a thing in the future. So get your free ride now, Las Vegas! You can hail one of these robotaxis on the Uber app under Uber X or Uber Comfort Electric. Motional has said it intends to make the robotaxis fully automated, meaning without safety drivers, next year.

This makes me think of the Johnny Cab from Total Recall (NSFW). Is that just me?

–Wendy Rush, 96.3KKLZ Las Vegas

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Las Vegas has always been a hot destination for tourists. But now it looks like it's on even more people's radar for a permanent stay. Refin.com recently released a study that showed Las Vegas was high on the most recent list of places people are considering relocating to. This has been happening for a while, but if the most recent findings are any indicator, it's about to get worse.

The study showed that almost 25% of homebuyers in the United States are still looking to move to less expensive cities. This possible shift in geography comes after record high inflation. Not to mention a pandemic that made working from home the new normal. Giving people a lot more flexibility to work from anywhere.

At the beginning of 2022, the mortgage rates for new home buyers was off the charts, and home prices were at an all time high. The housing market has calmed significantly since then. But there are people still looking to buy. And Redfin's study shows they're looking to buy in different cities. Specifically more affordable ones. This study was released just in October, so the influx into Vegas probably isn't over yet.

According to Redfin, "of the people who are still buying homes, an unprecedented portion are relocating to new metros. Many are seeking relative affordability as near-7% mortgage rates and persistently high home prices make expensive parts of the country even more expensive."

So where are these new metros? Certainly people aren't still rushing to move to Las Vegas. A city that is already struggling with an unprecedented low water-to-citizen ratio. Right?

Wrong.

Las Vegas nearly topped the most-recent list of cities that people are looking to relocate to. Mostly because they can sell their house and buy one here for about half the cost. Not a bad situation if you're lucky enough to pull that off. The cities with high numbers of people trying to get out of them include Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, Boston and Washington D.C.

And here's the list of top ten places that these people are still looking to move to. Check out where Vegas lands. Looks like traffic is about to get a lot worse.

–Wendy Rush, 96.3KKLZ Las Vegas

Most people looking to relocate to Orlando are coming from New York City.

There are four cities that Los Angeles residents are looking to escape to. Dallas is one of them.

Florida has lots of locations people are flocking to. This one mostly from Chicago.

Chicago residents are also coming to Cape Coral, Fl. And we can't say we blame them. Look at that view.

Another city Los Angeles residents are leaving home for is Phoenix, AZ. Kinda looks like another city I know...

In spite of the recent hurricane nonsense, people are still loving the idea of living in Florida. Most people going to Tampa are from New York.

The third city Los Angeles residents are moving to. Any guess as to what the last one is?

"Welcome to Miami" is what many a New Yorker are hearing these days.

If you guessed our lovely Las Vegas was the final city on the list that Los Angeles residents are moving to, you'd be right. We're not saying you can't come, but could you bring some water with you? That'd be great.

And the number one city that most homebuyers are looking to relocate to...I know...we were surprised too. But it's mostly those from San Francisco. Which makes sense. Close to home, far from San Fran prices.