Tesla’s Ride-Hailing service Launches in bay area

Late last week, Elon Musk posted on X Tesla’s ride-hail service is now available in the Bay Area. The Tesla AI posted on X invitations for using the service are “going out now.”

Ryan Mense, writing at Bay Area-based CW affiliate KRON4, reported last week the aforementioned X post by Tesla AI includes a service map. Mense notes the service area includes “boundaries of Marin County and Berkeley in the north and San Jose to the south, [with] eastern and western boundaries cover cities near the bayshore.” Of particular import is the distinction that the Tesla ride-hail service is not driverless; there is a human in the vehicle during trips. In other words, there’s no FSD mode in these cars.

Musk’s post comes after The Verge reported Tesla sought permission to operate here.

I’ve seen a few Tesla diehards post about using Tesla’s ride-hail service in Austin. Personally, I have no interest in trying it here in San Francisco; Waymo and Uber more than satisfy my needs—and, frankly, I’m no fan of Musk. Nonetheless, between Tesla, Waymo, Uber/Lyft, and even Zoox, San Francisco—as well as the Bay Area regionally—Tesla’s news is yet another example of the region’s place as a hotbed for innovation. In an accessibility context, the more app-based, on-demand ride-hail services in existence is undoubtedly a good thing for people who are, say, Blind and low vision and thus are precluded from driving on their own. The nerds (and venture capitalists) like to crow about the technical might of artificial intelligence, not to mention the coolness and convenience of summoning rides from one’s iPhone, but the reality is it’s much more impactful than sheer coolness or even novelty. Using ride-hailing services offer accessibility and inclusion, as well as imbuing heightened feelings of self-esteem through greater agency and autonomy. As I always say, this stuff is 100% non-trivial.