Safety
Safety is the product. Everything else is packaging.
A robotaxi service earns its licence twice: once from the regulator, and every day after that from the public. We are building the evidence for both from the start.
Our position
No public rides before the case is proven
Sydney Robotaxis will not carry a member of the public until the safety case for the service area is complete, independently reviewed and accepted by the relevant authorities. That is a hard gate, not a target date.
Approval first
Automated vehicle trials in New South Wales operate under a defined approval process administered by Transport for NSW, with conditions covering insurance, data and supervision. Nationally, work on an Automated Vehicle Safety Law is under way. We are building to that framework.
Evidence, not adjectives
Every claim we make about safety will be backed by testable numbers: disengagement rates, incident rates per distance travelled, and time to human response. We would rather publish an inconvenient figure than an unverifiable adjective.
Independent review
The safety case, the operational design domain and the incident process are all intended to be reviewed by parties who do not report to us.
Operating limits
The vehicle drives only where it is qualified to
An operational design domain is the precise envelope a vehicle is allowed to drive in: which streets, which speeds, which weather, which times. Outside it, the vehicle does not operate. Ours will be narrow at launch on purpose.
Mapped streets only
No route outside the surveyed and validated service area, even if a rider requests it. Trips that end outside the zone are simply not offered.
Defined conditions
Clear operating rules for rain, night, roadworks and major events. Conditions outside the envelope pause the service in that area rather than degrade the ride.
Conservative behaviour
Where a human driver might push through an ambiguous situation, the vehicle is designed to slow, stop safely and ask for help. Slower is an acceptable outcome. Unpredictable is not.
When something goes wrong
A clear path to a human, every time
1
In-cabin support
A support button in every vehicle connects to a trained operator who can see the vehicle state, talk to you, and act.
2
Safe stop
If the vehicle cannot proceed safely, it comes to a controlled stop in the safest available position and signals for assistance.
3
Field response
A ground crew is dispatched to any vehicle that cannot resolve its own situation, with a target response time published for the service area.
If you are in immediate danger, always call 000 first. Emergency services take priority over any in-app support channel.
Transparency
What we intend to publish
A fleet that will not show its numbers has not earned the road. Our commitment is to publish, on a regular cycle and in a form the public can read:
- Distance travelled in autonomous mode within the service area
- Collisions and injuries, normalised per distance travelled
- Events where the vehicle stopped and required human assistance
- Time from a support request to a human responding
- Service pauses, with the reason for each
Rider data is a separate commitment. Trip data will be used to run and improve the service, not sold to advertisers or data brokers. Cabin recordings exist for safety and are retained on a published schedule.
Sharing the road
Cyclists, pedestrians and buses come first
Sydney streets are narrow, busy and shared. A fleet that is technically safe but socially clumsy, blocking bike lanes, hovering at bus stops, stopping in traffic, will fail regardless of its statistics. Designated pickup points, conservative kerb behaviour and cooperation with Transport for NSW on stopping locations are part of the operating plan, not a later refinement.