Cybercab sightings beyond Austin geofence rise to 33 a week

Cybercab detections outside Tesla’s Austin robotaxi boundary climbed sharply in late October, but there was no public confirmation that paying riders could use the corridors. Southwest cameras logged 33 sightings in the week ending Nov. 1, up from a single sighting during Sept. 28-Oct. 4.

TeslaNorth, citing the community-run Robotaxi Tracker, reported that the 33 sightings came from 32 cameras outside the current service boundary, with 21 of those cameras recording at least one Cybercab. The tracker’s boundary map reflected Tesla’s service area as of Oct. 23.

The southwest total rose in successive weeks from one sighting to nine, then 23 and 33. Those figures measure camera sightings rather than unique vehicles, so they do not establish how many individual Cybercabs travelled beyond the boundary.

Activity was also rising north of the fence. The tracker recorded no engineering-vehicle detections in one week in early October, compared with 27 in the week ending Nov. 1. The northern runs were observed along Anderson Mill, Parmer, Lakeline and Highway 620, and were classified as engineering activity rather than passenger service.

Tesla had not publicly confirmed a paid-service expansion into either the southwest or northern corridors, nor said whether or when the northern routes would open to riders. Cybercabs remained available to hail within the existing Austin robotaxi zone.