Where robotaxis are legal

Driverless robotaxis can legally carry the paying public. Oversight is split: the DMV licenses driverless operation and the CPUC licenses paid rides — an operator needs both (only Waymo has both today). Courts confirmed in 2025 that cities can't veto it.

Driverless operation is allowed by self-certification; ride-hail needs an ADOT permit. No safety operator required, and no city veto.

A TxDMV authorization is required to run commercial AVs (enforced from May 2026). No in-car human is required, but an emergency-response plan is. State law preempts local bans.

Fully autonomous operation is allowed by self-certification to the DMV, with $5M in liability coverage. Fare-service rules are less explicit than California's.

State law treats the automated system as the driver and lets autonomous ride networks run under the ride-hail framework with no human aboard. Local regulation is preempted.

Fully autonomous operation with no driver is allowed, given insurance and registration. There's no dedicated state AV regulator.

The Automated Vehicles Act 2024 is the legal basis, but commercial driverless service waits on secondary rules and a permit regime. The DfT targets first paid pilots in spring 2026 and fuller rollout in H2 2027.

The EU set the first Level-4 type-approval rules, but a type-approved vehicle still needs each member state to authorize its operating area. Deployment is small-series only for now.

There's no single national robotaxi license — individual cities grant fully-driverless commercial permits (Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Wuhan, Chongqing). The city is the gatekeeper.

Level-4 operation is permitted by prefectural permit with a remote-monitoring system, but deployments are mostly shuttles — general urban robotaxi service isn't broadly settled yet.

Paid autonomous service is allowed only within designated pilot zones, and current operations still carry a safety operator.

AVs run on an opt-in trial basis; driverless requires clearing the LTA's assessment milestones. The current public service still has a safety operator onboard.

Dubai's RTA licenses every autonomous vehicle; fully-driverless fare-charging is live, confined to designated routes and zones.