Uber’s Robotaxis Arrive in Dallas: What Rideshare Drivers Should Know

Uber is launching robotaxis in Dallas through a partnership with Avride, offering riders autonomous vehicle options while keeping a human operator in the front seat for now. Learn how this rollout affects rideshare drivers and what to expect as the fleet grows in the city.

Uber is introducing robotaxis to Dallas, adding autonomous vehicles (AVs) as an option for riders through a new partnership with Avride. This marks the beginning of a fresh rollout in the city as Uber continues exploring how autonomous rides can operate alongside traditional drivers.

The first wave of vehicles will include Avride’s Hyundai Ioniq 5 models. They won’t be fully driverless right away. At launch, “the AVs providing rides will have a person in the front seat, but Uber plans to have fully driverless operation ‘in the future.’” Riders can adjust their app settings to increase the chance of being paired with an AV, and they’ll still have the option to switch to a human driver if matched with a robotaxi.

The company expects the fleet to grow over time. Uber plans to scale from a small number of vehicles to “hundreds” operating in the Dallas market. For rideshare drivers, this means the area will become a real-world test environment where human drivers and autonomous vehicles operate side by side.

While the partnership with Avride began in October 2024, Uber has also been exploring similar projects with Waymo in Austin and Atlanta, Lucid in the Bay Area, WeRide in Abu Dhabi, and Momenta in Europe. Dallas is now part of that wider effort to understand how self-driving rides fit into busy urban markets.

For drivers working in or around Dallas, it’s helpful to watch how often these vehicles appear in your service areas and how riders respond to them. As Uber evaluates autonomous operations, human drivers remain the main source of rides, and staying informed puts you in a good position as the industry evolves.