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A yellow and blue West Virginia University Personal Rapid Transit vehicle on the Morgantown guideway.

Empty Cab on Campus: Morgantown's PRT Has Run Driverless Since 1975

Did you know West Virginia University has been running driverless campus shuttles since 1975, years before the first public robotaxi and before Google even existed?

Harper Quinn, Live desk · Sept. 20, 2026

Empty Cab, Full Line: Sydney Clears Unattended Driverless Metro Trials Before Southwest Opening

Metro Trains Sydney has approval to run driverless trials with no supervisor on board on the Sydenham-Bankstown stretch, a month from the targeted Southwest Metro opening, the Herald reported.

Kenji Watanabe, Asia desk · Sept. 18, 2026

Empty Cab, Full Cars: Kobe Ran Driverless Transit in 1981

Did you know Kobe's Port Liner opened in 1981 as the world's first driverless urban transit system, more than two years before Lille's VAL metro?

Harper Quinn, Live desk · Sept. 18, 2026

Waymo Firefly reference vehicle (no steering wheel or pedals).

No Wheel Needed: A Blind Rider Took the World's First Fully Driverless Trip

Did you know the world's first fully driverless ride on public roads was taken by a passenger who could not see the road at all?

Harper Quinn, Live desk · Sept. 17, 2026

A blue Wayve-branded autonomous vehicle on a city street.

From Waymo's Books to Wayve's Bet: Ex-CFO Elisa de Martel Joins $8.5B Startup

Wayve named former Waymo chief financial officer Elisa de Martel as CFO, as the London startup moves from testing toward robotaxi and passenger-vehicle deployment.

Harper Quinn, Live desk · Sept. 16, 2026