City Cast Austin
🚖 Why Austin’s getting even more driverless cars
October 27, 2025 · — Adrian González
Good morning! It’s editor Adrian González in for Kelsey today.
I’ve seen some great movies at SXSW, but the Austin Film Festival is mad underrated. There’s always something for everyone, so go check it out — in runs through Thursday — and let me know what movies you watched. I can talk about film all day.
What's CITY Talking About
🚕 Austin Robotaxis to Go Fully Driverless
Elon Musk announced last week that Tesla plans to remove safety moderators in at least some of the city’s Robotaxis by the end of the year. The autonomous rideshare vehicles have been the subject of safety regulation probes since they were deployed in Austin in June, though Musk assured that Tesla remains “paranoid about safety.” [Austin American-Statesman]
- Related: Waymo expanded its fleet of driverless vehicles earlier this year, so what’s it like to ride one? [City Cast Austin 🎧]
🚦 Austin Battles Pedestrian Safety Gaps
A recent report found that Austin has the highest percentage of crashes involving pedestrians, and nearly 28% of them result in serious injury or death, despite the city having fewer crashes than other major Texas cities. The report also uncovered limited enforcement of the Lisa Torry Smith Act — a law passed in 2017 that requires special report filing and increased penalties — because of how the law is written. [Austin Monitor]
🎙️ What Makes Austinites Laugh?
Comedy has thrived in Austin even before the recent influx of famous comedians and dozens of comedy clubs. With ever expanding opportunities for catching a laugh, is Austin the new comedy hub? [City Cast Austin 🎧]
💼 Texas Wage Theft Is on the Rise
State investigators received more than 15,000 paycheck complaints in 2024, the most in nearly a decade, and an understaffed system is struggling to keep up. Austin is one of a few cities with anti-wage theft ordinances in place, but some experts worry the city doesn’t have the resources to enforce them. [Texas Observer]
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Where Is This?
Congratulations to Mackenzie M. for guessing last week’s “Where Is This?” correctly! This photo was taken at the “Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas” light trail at Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. Characters from the movie are set up along the trail, which is open through Nov. 30. It’s a great holiday activity for kids and big fans of the movie!
Can you guess where this week’s photo was taken?
Do you know where this photo was taken? Reply to this email with your best guess to be featured in next Monday’s newsletter!
What To Do
Monday, Oct. 27
- 🗳️ Early voting in Travis County
- 🤠 BRONCO 2: Queer Linedance Workshop (Intermediate/Advanced) at Sagebrush | South Austin
- ❓ TPA Trivia Night at Barrel O’Fun | Mueller
- 🎥 “Suspiria” (1977) at Hyperreal Film Club | East Austin
Tuesday, Oct. 28
- 🗳️ Early voting in Travis County
- 🧙 Witch’s Market at Mañana Dos | Downtown Austin
- 🎬 “Candyman” Free Screening at Carver Museum | Central East Austin
- 📚 Library Van Pop-Up at Anderson Mill Senior Activity Center | Anderson Mill
- 🎃 Pumpkin Nights at Pioneer Farms | Pioneer Crossing
Artificial intelligence is everywhere and I don’t know how to feel about it. As a racing fan, it’s always interesting to see Austin-based Oracle on Formula 1 cars, but I just learned that the company is also an AI technology partner for some of the teams. What that means for us civilians remains to be seen.
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